OCC Confirms Banks Can Support Customer Crypto Transactions Under Revised Federal Rules

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released guidance last Tuesday that national banks can now serve as intermediaries in crypto trades without having the assets on their balance sheets. Under Interpretive Letter 1188, banks can take part in so-called “riskless principal transactions” – buying crypto from one customer while selling it to another, just as brokers never take inventory positions themselves.

The OCC confirmed this activity falls within the “business of banking” under federal law, applying the same tech-neutral stance they’ve kept for decades.

Growing Institutional Interest and Charter Applications

Comptroller Jonathan Gould has been redirecting the agency toward this kind of integration since his confirmation. Just a day before the letter got public, he called out the Blockchain Association’s policy summit in Washington and pushed back against traditional banks fighting crypto’s entry into the regulated system.

His agency received 14 new bank charter applications this year, more than the previous four years together, with a few coming from global giants such as Coinbase, Circle, and Ripple – all seeking federal oversight. Gould said that there’s “no justification for considering crypto differently” from any other assets, pointing out that banks have handled electronic custody services for decades.

Private Banking Momentum and iGaming Payment Shifts

Evidence from the private banking segment reinforces his view, with institutions adding crypto options that would have been unthinkable a short time ago. PNC became the first major U.S. bank to offer direct spot bitcoin trading to private wealth clients through Coinbase’s infrastructure, while Bank of America began urging its 15,000 wealth advisors to recommend 1-4% crypto allocations.

Other busy sectors are feeling the shift too, especially in places where slow payouts never made sense. Most igaming platforms move money constantly during peak hours, so they had to move early and rebuild around blockchain, as most players expect payouts in minutes instead of three days in regular banking.

In a list for August 2025, industry expert Sofia Rebuck outlined setups where results are public on-chain, payouts land fast, and no documents are needed because everything runs through a simple wallet link. How banks match that kind of speed is still unclear, even though they bring oversight and structure that pure crypto platforms never built in.

Policy Reversal and Rising Federal Oversight

The policy shift stands in sharp contrast to the previous administration, when banks pulled back, and crypto firms hit constant roadblocks. Support for “the responsible growth and use of digital assets” was laid out in a January executive order from President Trump, with a July roadmap from his Digital Asset Markets Working Group outlining how banks could join the market.

The SEC also closed 89 crypto cases within weeks of forming its new task force, a move that signaled a clear reset inside the agency.

National trust banks already oversee close to $2 trillion in custodial assets, and pulling crypto under that structure fits how the market actually works now. Gould indicated that more crypto applicants are now entering the OCC review process, aiming for full federal supervision.

Operational Oversight and Market Reaction

Settlement risk got the most attention in the OCC letter, along with a reminder that banks have long managed counterparty exposure in other markets. Supervision stays in place, yet banks no longer need to file a request for every crypto action.

Bitcoin jumped more than 4% after the announcement, touched $93K, then eased back, with about $46B moving through the market in a single day. Gould said national banks check in with the OCC “on a near daily basis” about crypto products, hinting that the real pace of institutional engagement is ahead of what most people see.