Senator Warren Questions OCC Head on Approval of ‘Ineligible’ Crypto Trust Charters

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) Jonathan Gould of violating banking laws by approving national trust charters for cryptocurrency companies.

In a Monday letter to Gould, Warren said the OCC head had “approved at least nine national trust charters for crypto companies that intend to engage in activities that appear to go far beyond the narrow set of activities permitted by law,” an apparent violation of the National Bank Act.

Source: US Senate Banking Committee

She called on Gould to provide the full applications of crypto companies the OCC had approved or conditionally approved since December 2025, including Coinbase, Crypto.com’s parent company, Ripple, Stripe, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, Protego Holdings and Paxos, as well as communications between the office and US President Donald Trump, members of his family and White House officials.

“These companies are effectively crypto banks that want to evade the fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank,” said Warren. “Your decision to facilitate this regulatory arbitrage not only conflicts with federal law, it also poses serious risks to consumers, the safety and soundness of the banking system, and the separation of banking and commerce.” 

Related: Warren urges Fed, Treasury not to ‘bail out’ crypto amid Trump-linked firm concerns

Warren, ranking member of the US Senate Banking Committee, has repeatedly criticized lawmakers and regulators for supporting policies with potential conflicts of interest related to Trump’s ties to the crypto industry. She pushed for provisions in the crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, in a committee markup last week and called on Gould to delay consideration of the Trump family-backed crypto business World Liberty Financial, which filed for a charter in January.

Cointelegraph requested comment from the OCC but did not receive an immediate response.

Kraken parent’s application under review

On May 8, Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, filed an application with the OCC for a national trust charter. The company said, if approved, the charter would allow it to “provide fiduciary custody and other services primarily for digital assets” under the Payward National Trust Company.

A national trust bank charter mainly allows holders to provide fiduciary and custodial services without engaging in deposit-taking or commercial lending, which means they are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as traditional banks.

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