Major players in the traditional financial sector are concerned about the rapid integration of cryptocurrency companies into the U.S. banking system. The Bank Policy Institute, representing giants such as JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, has hired outside lawyers to explore the possibility of a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The catalyst for the conflict is a new wave of regulatory approvals. In December, the OCC issued conditional approvals for national trust bank licenses to several major crypto companies, including Ripple, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets. This status allows firms to operate at the federal level, bypassing the need to obtain separate licenses in each of the 50 U.S. states.
The essence of the conflict lies in changes to the regulatory framework. On April 1, a new OCC rule took effect, significantly expanding the interpretation of trust bank activities. Bankers are outraged that stablecoin issuers and custodial services now receive federal status and the right to operate in all 50 states without undergoing the lengthy and costly process of obtaining local licenses. At the same time, crypto companies are exempt from the obligations of traditional credit institutions—they do not need to insure deposits or strictly comply with capital requirements to protect depositors. Lobbyists directly call this "license arbitrage," considering the situation unfair.
It is worth noting that no lawsuit has been filed to date. Wall Street lawyers have chosen a more cunning tactic, where the mere threat of a lawsuit works more effectively than open litigation. The looming prospect of legal battles forces the OCC to slow down the issuance of new permits and keeps crypto companies on edge. Additionally, traditional banks avoid direct litigation due to the risk of losing: if the court sides with the regulator, the current lenient policy would become indisputable law, which is disadvantageous for traditional banks, many of which are actively developing their own digital asset platforms.
The current standoff between Wall Street and the crypto industry has entered a phase of covert but extremely tough positional warfare. The absence of a lawsuit from banking giants is not resignation but a calculated strategy to curb the development of competitors. For the industry, this means that obtaining national bank status will remain a lengthy process surrounded by political and legal risks. However, the very fact that the traditional system is forced to unite efforts and spend enormous resources to defend its borders serves as the best confirmation of the strength and irreversible influence of the cryptocurrency sector on the global economy.