United States of America: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency adopted Interpretive Letter 1183 clarifying cryptocurrency activities for national banks

On 7 March 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) adopted Interpretive Letter 1183, which allows national banks and federal savings associations to engage in cryptocurrency activities, including crypto-asset custody, stablecoin operations and participation in distributed ledger technology. Previously, banks were required to obtain approval (non-objection) from the OCC and demonstrate that they had adequate controls in place before engaging in these activities. The OCC has now removed this requirement. However, the OCC expects banks to have adequate risk management controls in place for these cryptocurrency activities, just as they would for traditional banking activities.