In a seismic shift for the financial landscape, national banks and federal savings associations across the United States have received the green light to provide cryptocurrency custody services. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Interpretive Letter #1184, released in May 2025, officially affirms what many industry insiders have anticipated for years. Banks can now hold your Bitcoin. Let that sink in.
This isn’t just about storage, either. These institutions can execute crypto transactions for customers, facilitate currency exchanges, and even outsource these services to third parties. They’re basically becoming crypto brokers with federal backing. Wild. Many institutions are implementing cold storage solutions to ensure maximum security for their clients’ digital assets.
The regulatory foundation for this move has been building since July 2020 with OCC Interpretive Letter #1170, but this latest guidance blows the doors wide open. Banks can act in both fiduciary and non-fiduciary capacities—meaning they can either take full responsibility for your crypto or just hold it while you call the shots.
Banks can now be your crypto custodian or just your crypto vault—you decide how much control to surrender.
Of course, there’s a catch. The OCC isn’t giving banks a free pass to go crypto-crazy. They’re demanding robust risk management controls, enterprise-wide risk assessments, and strict compliance with anti-money laundering standards. Any bank jumping into this space better have their regulatory ducks in a row.
The impact? Potentially huge. This represents a fundamental policy shift in U.S. banking, providing the regulatory clarity many institutions have been waiting for. Major banks are already evaluating or rolling out custody services. Broader crypto adoption seems inevitable now.
For consumers, this might eventually mean accessing Bitcoin as easily as checking your savings account. For banks, it’s a new revenue stream—if they can navigate the compliance maze. It’s important to note that these tokenized crypto assets still remain subject to existing securities laws if they qualify as securities under federal regulations. This guidance follows the OCC’s recent rescinding of Biden-era restrictions that had required banks to obtain supervisory nonobjection before engaging in crypto activities.
The banking dinosaurs are finally adapting to the asteroid that is cryptocurrency. Some will thrive in this new environment. Others will struggle with the technological demands. But one thing’s clear—crypto is officially entering the mainstream financial system, for better or worse.