Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould has defended pending national trust bank charter applications from crypto and stablecoin firms, rejecting arguments from incumbent banks that these charters should be reserved primarily for fiduciary services.
In a speech at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit, Gould addressed concerns raised by five banking associations in July regarding applications from Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, Protego Trust and Ripple. The associations had argued that national trust banks were intended for fiduciary activities, whereas custody services fall outside that definition.
Ledger Insights noted at the time that these objections were likely to fall on deaf ears, given that Gould, as Senior Deputy Comptroller in 2021, authored an interpretive letter clarifying that national trust banks could engage in activities beyond traditional fiduciary roles. The banking associations had criticized that letter for eliminating “the longstanding requirement that applicants for national bank trust charters engage in fiduciary activities.”
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