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ARTICLE · 04 DECEMBER 2021

OCC Chief Counsel Clarifies Bank Authority To Engage In Crypto

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The first letter, Interpretive Letter 1170, concluded that banks may provide certain cryptocurrency custody services on behalf of customers.

United StatesTechnology
Moorari K. Shah
Moorari K. Shah
A.J. Dhaliwal
A.J. Dhaliwal
Gabriel Khoury
Gabriel Khoury
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On November 18, the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a fourth interpretive letter (Letter 1179) regarding whether it is permissible for national banks and federal savings associations to engage in certain cryptocurrency, distributed ledger, and stablecoin activities. The letter clarifies ambiguities in the previous three letter including the authority of a bank to engage in certain cryptocurrency activities and the authority of the OCC to charter a national trust bank.

The first letter, Interpretive Letter 1170, concluded that banks may provide certain cryptocurrency custody services on behalf of customers. The second letter, OCC Interpretive Letter 1172, concluded that banks may hold deposits that serve as reserves for stablecoins that are backed on a 1:1 basis by a single fiat currency and held in hosted wallets. The third letter, OCC Interpretive Letter 1174, concluded that banks may use distributed ledgers and

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