OCC Smooths Path For Banks To Take Advantage Of Crypto Technology

On March 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) eliminated the requirement for OCC-supervised banks to obtain supervisory non-objection prior to engaging in certain digital asset activities.¹Under this new framework created by Interpretive Letter 1183, national banks and federal savings associations (collectively, "banks") are no longer required to seek supervisory non-objection before providing crypto-asset custody services, holding dollar deposits serving as reserves backing stablecoins, acting as nodes on a distributed ledger to verify payments, or engaging in certain stablecoin activities to facilitate payment transactions.²

This action, taken via publication of Interpretive Letter 1183, expressly rescinds Interpretive Letter 1179, issued in November 2021, which required banks to notify their supervisory offices in advance of their intent to engage in certain digital asset activities and to proceed only after receiving