U.S. Banks Get the Green Light to Hold Digital Assets: Will This Reshape the Future of Banking?

The U.S. banking system officially opened its doors to cryptocurrency as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a ruling that permitted banks to hold crypto for the first time. A new document, Interpretive Letter 1186, confirms that national banks can hold enough crypto to pay the gas fees needed to run blockchain transactions.

“We confirm that the proposed activities, as described and qualified by the Bank, are permissible,” the OCC said in the letter. The letter referenced the Ethereum network, which requires transactions to be completed in ETH.

“Such a user would have to either maintain a separate ETH account, conduct a spot transaction on a crypto-asset exchange to obtain ETH prior to the transaction, engage with a third-party network fee-provider, or obtain ETH by some other method,” the OCC said. “This process can add costs and significant risks, including those related to operational complexity, asset price changes, and delayed transactions.”

With this latest development, banks can hold Ethereum and other tokens in their digital wallets to pay gas fees and handle other operating costs without requesting special permission every time.

This regulatory green light arrives just as large institutions’ interest in digital assets has reached incredibly high levels. But will the traditional banking system finally merge with the crypto ecosystem in a move that could totally reshape both industries in the process?

From Chokepoint to Open Arms

Before this rule, when banks helped a customer make a crypto transaction, they had to pay a gas fee in that network’s native coin. As banks couldn’t hold the coin themselves, they used a middleman, introducing extra costs, operational complexity, and additional risk.

The US Census Bureau estimates that approximately 21% of adults (18+), representing about 55 million Americans, own cryptocurrency. These users were largely excluded from traditional banking services, forcing them to rely on crypto-only platforms that lacked the reliability and deposit protections of conventional banks.

Recent regulatory updates have shifted from earlier approaches. The Federal Reserve has withdrawn prior guidance that discouraged bank involvement in digital assets. Additionally, the Fed and the OCC jointly issued clarifying statements over the summer, outlining how existing banking rules apply when institutions hold crypto on behalf of customers.

The OCC has further confirmed that U.S. banks may buy and sell crypto assets on behalf of clients, and it has begun removing outdated references to “reputation risk” from its supervisory manuals, signaling a more neutral regulatory stance. However, the agency also emphasized that banks must maintain rigorous risk management controls, consistent with expectations for all other financial activities

Alignment with the Genius Act

The timing of this new rule shows that the OCC is working to put the GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, into action. That act created a federal rulebook for stablecoins and directed bank regulators to explain how current bank rules should apply to all digital assets.

Stablecoin transactions almost always involve small network fees that might require banks to either hold some cryptocurrency themselves or pay outside companies to handle the fees. But banks no longer have to do these anymore as they can now hold crypto for these operational needs. Essentially, banks can now offer full cryptocurrency custody and trading services similar to their traditional brokerage operations.

This new capability also includes stablecoins and blockchain-based payments, as well as participation in distributed digital networks. The OCC confirmed that these activities are allowed, provided that banks keep the same high-risk management standards that they apply to all their traditional banking activities.

Market Implications

Big company finance managers (corporate treasurers) are using stablecoins more and more to skip over the old banking system, ultimately for faster, automatic payments on the blockchain.

The OCC’s ruling shows they finally agree that saying “no” to crypto didn’t work. Instead of stopping digital money, strict rules just pushed its growth into less regulated places. Consequently, crypto-native platforms and traditional banks may now compete directly, an occurrence that should eventually improve the quality of service and reduce costs for users.

Now, as many different platforms would be competing for large-volume institutional business through aggressive pricing, gaining access to Digitap, a crypto exchange with lowest fees and reliable infrastructure, becomes critically important.

What Banks Still Can’t Do

The OCC’s permission is carefully bound. Banks can only hold the amount of crypto needed to pay network fees that they expect to use in the near future. The crypto they hold must be used only for regular banking activities, not for risky bets or speculative trading.

As regards risk management, the OCC pointed out that all crypto activities must be done safely and legally. Banks need the same strong checks they use for their traditional business to manage digital risks, especially those caused by crypto price changes or hackers.

Settlement and Asset Management Implications

As banks increase their participation in digital assets, the need for proper infrastructure for settling transactions and holding assets (custody) increases.

A unified portfolio management is one critical strategy in this area. For instance, an investor does not need to keep checking bank custody holdings or their exchange accounts separately. With one comprehensive tracking solution, they can gain visibility into all their holdings.

There are crypto banks like Digitap already in place that give investors this. In addition, users can earn crypto rewards through rebate programs and complete transactions across various platforms.

Conclusion: What This Means for Investors

This regulatory clarity provides substantial benefits for individual crypto investors. While FDIC deposit insurance is still not available for digital assets, bank custody of customer cryptocurrencies now operates under well-established regulatory frameworks.

This shift reduces the counterparty risk (the risk that the platform holding your assets fails) when compared to using unregulated exchanges, though it does not eliminate all risk.

More importantly, individual investors gain access to a reliable banking infrastructure for their digital asset services. They may now use traditional banks for secure custody and settlement, and still consult some of the best crypto exchanges for complete asset control.

Overall, OCC’s decision brings U.S. policy in line with what is already happening internationally. Countries like Singapore, Switzerland, and European jurisdictions have already permitted regulated crypto banking. Allowing American banks to start offering crypto services ensures the nation remains a force within the global financial markets.