ICBA challenges OCC authority over national trust bank charters
A banking trade association sued the OCC over its approach to national trust bank charters, challenging a route used by cryptoasset businesses to enter the federal banking framework.
The Independent Community Bankers of America announced on October 2, 2026, that it had sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the District of Columbia. ICBA challenged the agency's framework for national trust banks conducting non-fiduciary activities, a chartering route relevant to cryptoasset businesses.
The dispute concerned the perimeter of banking authority: which activities a national trust charter could support and which institutions could enter that framework. For businesses providing Bitcoin custody and related services, charter eligibility influences their regulatory obligations and their place alongside conventional banks.
ICBA's announcement established the filing and the association's objections. Those objections were litigants' arguments, not findings that the OCC had acted unlawfully. The lawsuit brought an existing institutional conflict into court; it did not itself revoke any company's charter or decide the legality of Bitcoin custody.