TL;DR:
- The OCC has confirmed that US national banks can intermediate “riskless principal” crypto trades, letting customers buy and sell Bitcoin via regulated lenders.
- The guidance treats crypto brokerage for custody clients as a logical extension of existing services, with banks matching buyers and sellers without holding tokens.
- Banks must manage risks while operating in a crypto-friendly climate that encourages firms like Coinbase, Crypto.com and Ripple to pursue trust bank charters.
US banking regulation has taken a decisive turn into digital assets as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirms that national banks can intermediate crypto trades for retail and institutional customers, letting clients buy and sell assets like Bitcoin through their existing bank relationships instead of unregulated exchanges. An interpretive letter says lenders may step in between buyers and sellers without loading tokens onto their own balance sheets.
How “riskless principal” turns banks into crypto brokers
At the heart of the guidance is the concept of “riskless principal” transactions, in which a bank buys a crypto asset from one party and immediately sells it to another, executing the trade as a broker while avoiding long-term inventory and direct market exposure. The OCC stresses that this permission applies to crypto not classified as securities, citing Bitcoin, and frames the activity as an extension of how banks handle securities and derivatives for custody clients.
The regulator describes these crypto trades as a “logical outgrowth” of existing custody and brokerage services, noting that national banks already buy and sell financial and non-financial assets held in custody at a customer’s direction, effectively treating crypto brokerage for custody customers as equivalent to long-established core banking activities. Several lenders had asked for clarity, arguing that matching crypto buyers and sellers would let them meet demand without copying the balance-sheet risks of dedicated trading firms.
Risk controls remain a central condition. The OCC says banks must conduct crypto intermediation safely and in compliance with applicable law, managing settlement failures, operational risks and other threats just as they would for traditional financial instruments. By confirming that banks need not hold client crypto on their own books, the guidance builds on earlier approval for custody and sidesteps the now-rescinded requirement that custodial crypto be recorded on balance sheets, which had made the business capital intensive.
The timing also reflects a policy pivot in Washington. Industry executives complained during the previous administration that banks were discouraged from serving crypto firms, while the current guidance forms part of a more crypto-friendly push that has seen players such as Coinbase, Crypto.com and Ripple seek national trust bank charters. For customers, the shift opens a path to trade Bitcoin and other non-security tokens via regulated banks, raising questions about how quickly Wall Street will embrace its new broker role.
