Bank of America Resists Crypto Firms' Pursuit of National Trust Charters: Regulatory Battle Intensifies

In recent years, traditional US banks have shown increasing resistance to financial regulators' moves to grant national trust charters to crypto companies. These institutions worry that allowing crypto firms to obtain legal status for unified interstate operations could reshape the competitive landscape of the digital finance sector and pose potential risks to the stability of the overall financial system. Currently, the core of this dispute focuses on the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which is gradually issuing national trust charters to crypto companies, enabling them to conduct business nationwide without applying for licenses on a state-by-state basis.

Traditional banks point out that crypto companies, under the current framework, do not have to comply with the same stringent regulatory requirements as banks, such as capital adequacy ratios, stress tests, and core rules for consumer protection. This regulatory difference may create a "double standard" environment, allowing some crypto companies to operate with lower compliance costs, forming a shadow banking-like structure. Historical experience shows that regulatory vacuums have been a major cause of financial crises, and failure to implement equivalent supervision of crypto entities now could repeat past mistakes.

The banking sector believes that allowing crypto companies to enjoy the operational convenience of a national charter without bearing the corresponding responsibilities would give them an unfair advantage in key areas such as payment clearing and settlement, weakening the compliance competitiveness of traditional financial institutions. At the same time, supporters argue that this is an opportunity to promote financial innovation and incorporate emerging technologies into the formal regulatory system, achieving a balance between security and efficiency through adaptive regulation. Currently, the legal interpretation and policy path surrounding national trust charters are still evolving dynamically, and their ultimate direction will profoundly affect the future interaction model between the US crypto industry and the traditional banking industry, determining whether the digital financial ecosystem moves towards integration or division.