Warren Challenges OCC’s Nine Crypto Trust Charters

Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for records on at least nine crypto firms’ national trust charters, questioning whether their planned activities fit the law. The charters let a company operate as a federally chartered trust bank. The OCC reviews applications and supervises chartered institutions; Warren says the agency’s recent approvals may cover work beyond the narrow trust activities allowed under the National Bank Act.

What does a national trust charter let a company do?

The OCC’s rules allow national banks limited to trust company operations to conduct fiduciary and certain related non-fiduciary activities. The agency’s February final rule on national bank chartering clarified that authority and took effect April 1, 2026. A fiduciary activity involves acting in a position of trust for a client. A company can also seek permission for related services that do not involve that role.

That distinction is central to Warren’s objection. A trust charter is not the same as a full-service national bank charter. Warren argues that some crypto firms’ plans look more like banking businesses than trust operations, even if they use the narrower charter. She says the plans include non-fiduciary custody, payments, lending and stablecoin activities she considers close to deposit-taking.

Why does Warren question the OCC’s approvals?

In a May 19 letter to Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould, Warren said the OCC had approved at least nine national trust charters for crypto companies since December 2025, with more applications pending. The Senate Banking Committee’s account of Warren’s letter says she questioned whether the firms’ plans included specific fiduciary trust activities, or made such work their primary business.

Warren argues that approving charters for companies with broader plans could let them take on bank-like functions without the safeguards and obligations that apply to full-service national banks. That is her legal and policy argument, not a finding by a court. The OCC’s rule says it clarifies existing charter authority and does not expand or contract the agency’s authority.

What records did Warren ask the OCC to provide?

Warren asked Gould to provide the full applications for all nine approved companies, the legal analyses behind the OCC’s decisions, and communications between OCC officials and the White House or Trump family members about the approvals. She set June 1, 2026, as the requested response date. Her letter seeks information to examine how the agency applied its chartering rules; it does not itself reverse or suspend any approval.