The U.S. Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money (OCC) has given nationwide banks the inexperienced mild to carry crypto on their steadiness sheets for the aim of paying blockchain community charges.
The steerage, issued in interpretive letter No. 1186 at present, additionally permits banks to maintain crypto available to check inside or third-party crypto platforms.
Blockchain networks require native tokens to course of transactions. These charges, typically known as “gasoline charges,” are unavoidable.
The OCC stated banks can maintain the tokens they moderately anticipate needing. This might embody paying charges as a part of crypto custody companies or facilitating consumer transactions. The purpose is to cut back reliance on third-party suppliers and decrease operational dangers.
“Paying community charges is a essential a part of doing enterprise on blockchain networks,” the OCC stated. “Holding crypto for this goal is permissible when it helps in any other case lawful banking actions.”
‘Incidental’ banking makes use of
The steerage emphasizes that these actions are “incidental to the enterprise of banking.” That phrase has weight in regulatory language. It means banks can do it legally, so long as the exercise helps them serve clients or function effectively.
The OCC even drew parallels to historic banking practices, like holding international forex, banknotes, or shares in cost methods to facilitate transactions.
In different phrases, banks have all the time wanted to carry sure property to do enterprise. Crypto is simply the newest type.
Banks are anticipated to handle dangers fastidiously. They need to monitor operational, market, liquidity, cybersecurity, and authorized dangers. The quantity of crypto held ought to stay minimal relative to the financial institution’s capital.
The letter comes below the management of Comptroller Jonathan Gould, a Trump appointee confirmed in July 2025. Underneath his tenure, the OCC has develop into extra crypto-friendly. Earlier steerage allowed banks to behave as nodes on blockchain networks, provide crypto custody companies, and work with stablecoins.
In the meantime, broader guidelines for stablecoin issuers below the GENIUS Act are nonetheless being drafted. However the OCC’s transfer indicators that U.S. regulators are keen to let banks take part in crypto safely and effectively.
As extra banks discover digital property, this steerage might speed up adoption. It bridges conventional finance and blockchain, giving banks a clearer path to combine crypto into on a regular basis operations.
Earlier this yr, the OCC issued steerage (Interpretive Letter 1184) permitting nationwide banks and federal financial savings associations to supply cryptocurrency custody and buying and selling companies.
Basically, banks can purchase and promote digital property on behalf of consumers, outsource crypto actions to 3rd events, and supply associated companies like recordkeeping, tax reporting, and compliance.
