Crypto advocacy organization defends OCC charter approvals amid banking industry legal challenge
Despite facing a lawsuit and opposition from certain legislators, CCI's CEO Ji Hun Kim expressed the group's continued confidence in the OCC's decision to grant charters to cryptocurrency firms.
The Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) has expressed strong support for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC's) decision to grant charters to multiple cryptocurrency firms, characterizing the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) lawsuit as an effort to obstruct technological progress and innovation in the financial sector.
During a statement released on Monday, CCI CEO Ji Hun Kim characterized the ICBA lawsuit as a "clear attempt to resist national trust charters, payments innovation, and competition in financial services." The cryptocurrency advocacy group stood firmly behind the OCC's decisions to approve and conditionally approve national trust charters for crypto firms, rejecting claims from certain legislators who argued that digital asset exchanges "want to evade the fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank."
The legal challenge brought by the ICBA, submitted on Friday to the US District Court for the District of Columbia, contended that the OCC had granted US bank charters to various entities, including cryptocurrency businesses, without implementing adequate safeguards or adhering to the compliance requirements that traditional banks must meet.
Congress did not create the national trust charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms seeking the credibility of a federal bank charter without the Community Reinvestment Act obligations, consolidated supervision, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC insurance that apply to insured depository institutions.
ICBA president and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey
The list of applications that received approval or conditional approval from the OCC during US President Donald Trump's administration included submissions from World Liberty Financial, Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo and Paxos.
World Liberty's approval drew substantial criticism from numerous lawmakers, particularly given that it occurred during the tenure of OCC head Jonathan Gould, a Trump appointee who has been in the role since July 2025. The crypto firm was co-founded by members of the Trump family and has faced investigative scrutiny regarding purported connections to the royal families of the United Arab Emirates.