The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a critical interpretation letter 1184 on May 7, 2025, providing clearer guidance for national banks and federal savings associations to participate in crypto asset activities. This document continues the discussion from previous interpretation letters 1170 and 1183, with a key breakthrough indicating that federally chartered banks and savings associations can now offer custody and execution services for crypto assets without prior regulatory approval or notification.
This means banks can more freely establish their own cryptocurrency trading systems or outsource services to third parties meeting risk control standards, provided all activities are conducted in a "bank standard" secure and stable manner, and comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including strict due diligence, comprehensive third-party risk management frameworks, and robust cybersecurity protections.
Core Content
The release of interpretation letter 1184 significantly lowers the regulatory barriers for banks to engage in crypto asset businesses. According to the document, banks can provide a wide range of services, including core crypto asset custody, trading execution under client instructions, transaction settlement, necessary record-keeping, asset valuation, tax services, customer reporting, and other crypto asset-related services.
This move has significant implications for the entire crypto ecosystem. The United States' stance on allowing banks to freely operate crypto asset businesses may attract more institutional investors, thereby increasing market liquidity and stability, and promoting the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Additionally, the clarification in the interpretation letter provides more explicit regulatory support for banks handling stablecoin business, and even allows banks to participate in blockchain verification work under certain conditions, further expanding banks' involvement in the cryptocurrency domain.
