The Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) has backed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC's) decision to approve several national trust charters for crypto companies, characterizing a lawsuit filed by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) as resistance to innovation and competition in financial services.
CCI CEO Ji Hun Kim said the ICBA legal action was a "clear attempt to resist national trust charters, payments innovation, and competition in financial services." The crypto advocacy organization supports the OCC's approvals and conditional approvals despite concerns raised by some lawmakers that crypto exchanges "want to evade the fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank."
The ICBA filed its lawsuit on Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the OCC approved bank charters for entities, including crypto companies, without sufficient safeguards or compliance with standard banking requirements. ICBA president and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey stated that "Congress did not create the national trust charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms seeking the credibility of a federal bank charter without the Community Reinvestment Act obligations, consolidated supervision, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC insurance that apply to insured depository institutions."
Among the companies that have received OCC approvals or conditional approvals are World Liberty Financial, Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, and Paxos. The World Liberty Financial approval drew particular criticism from lawmakers, as members of the Trump family co-founded the company. The firm has faced probes related to alleged ties to the royal families of the United Arab Emirates.
