The crypto conversation inside America’s financial institutions just took a sharp turn toward legitimacy. In a major development, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has officially confirmed that banks under its jurisdiction can both hold and trade cryptocurrency on behalf of their customers. Even more, they are now allowed to outsource crypto services—a move that could fundamentally reshape how traditional banks interact with digital assets.
Banks Cleared to Hold and Trade Crypto for Customers
Acting Comptroller Rodney Hood issued a letter on May 7, explicitly stating that national banks and federal savings associations can buy and sell crypto as directed by their customers. The statement removes the previous ambiguity surrounding banks’ roles in the digital asset space and offers clear regulatory support.
According to the OCC’s accompanying press release, banks can also outsource crypto-related functions, such as custody and execution services, to third-party providers—provided that these activities stay within the boundaries of existing banking laws.
Expanded Custody Services and Third-Party Partnerships
Beyond basic storage, banks now have permission to offer additional custody services. These include:
- Record keeping
- Tax reporting
- General reporting duties
In a video statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Hood clarified that banks may use sub-custodians, as long as they follow proper third-party risk management protocols. This opens up a new level of flexibility for banks looking to work with crypto-native companies while maintaining compliance.
Importantly, the OCC emphasized that a broad range of cryptocurrency and digital asset activities can be legally handled by banks or their partners. These include the use of distributed ledgers and participation in network infrastructure—foundational components of crypto ecosystems.
Previous Steps Set the Stage
The OCC had already shown signs of loosening its stance earlier this year. On March 7, the agency issued new guidance allowing:
- Crypto-asset custody
- Certain stablecoin activities
- Participation in node verification networks (i.e., blockchain infrastructure)
These permissions signaled a gradual shift, but the May 7 letter solidifies the OCC’s stance: regulated banking institutions are welcome to step into the crypto arena—responsibly.
Rodney Hood framed this shift as not just optional, but necessary. “More than 50 million Americans hold some form of cryptocurrency,” he said. “This digitalization of financial services is not a trend; it is a transformation.”
Industry Reacts Positively to OCC Guidance
Key players in the crypto and blockchain space welcomed the OCC’s updated stance.
Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, general counsel at StarkWare, called the new letters a “shift in the OCC’s approach.” She emphasized that this change supports integrating crypto directly within traditional banking frameworks. In her words, clear regulatory permission reduces fear around existential compliance risks, opening the door for more banks to get involved.
She also pointed out the significance of the OCC allowing banks to outsource crypto services: “This is a boon to regulated, crypto-native service providers.”
On the exchange side, Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer at Coinbase, publicly praised Hood’s leadership. In a May 7 post to X, he commended the OCC’s dedication to regulatory clarity and its respect for supervisory best practices.
Political Support Aligns With Crypto Push
This regulatory shift doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It reflects a broader political climate that’s warming up to crypto.
Since the Trump administration returned to power in January, its approach to digital assets has become significantly more favorable. For instance, in April, the Federal Reserve announced that it was withdrawing prior guidance that discouraged banks from engaging in crypto and stablecoin-related services.
Adding to that momentum, President Trump signed a joint congressional resolution on April 11, repealing a rule established during the Biden era. That rule had aimed to force decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report all transactions to the IRS—a move many in the crypto space saw as excessive.
With regulatory, legal, and political winds blowing in the same direction, the door is now wide open for banks to participate in the crypto economy more freely than ever before.