Exchange Ranking
Top Exchanges
24h Volume Ranking
Popularity Ranking
Exchange BTC Balance
Proof of Reserves
Decentralized Exchanges
Funding Rate
Funding Heatmap
Liquidation Data
Max Pain
Long/Short Ratio
Whale L/S Ratio
Binance/Okex/Huobi L/S
Bitfinex Margin L/S
ETF Tracker
Solana ETF
XRP ETF
Hong Kong ETF
Bitcoin Treasuries
Crypto Reversal
Ethereum Reserves
HyperLiquid Wallet Analysis
Hyperliquid Whale Watch
Large Transactions
On-chain Movement
Bitcoin ROI
Stablecoin Market Cap
Options Analysis
News
Articles
Economic Calendar
Features
Wallet
Contract Calculator
Security
Collections
Watchlist
Following
BTC 
ETH American Community Bank sues federal regulators to challenge the legality of cryptocurrency companies obtaining banking licenses
American Community Bank has filed a lawsuit against the country's leading banking regulator against its practice of issuing banking licenses to cryptocurrency companies. Prosecutors believe the agency has exceeded its authority and exceeded legal boundaries set by Congress.
The Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) formally filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), challenging its authority to authorize National Trust Bank to provide services to cryptocurrency companies. The lawsuit was filed in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Law, and its core appeal was to overturn the final rule issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on March 2, 2026-which was linked to Interpretation Letter No. 1176. The plaintiff requested the court to rule that the above rules and explanation letters were illegal.
The focus of the controversy is the "national trust license". Industry associations pointed out that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency distorted this license as a "side door" for cryptocurrency companies to enter the banking system. ICBA Chairman and CEO Rebecca Romero Reney said allowing such companies to obtain licenses on the grounds of conducting substantive untrusted business "exceeds the authority Congress has granted to the agency." She further emphasized that these companies had obtained the credibility of the federal banking license without fulfilling Community Reinvestment Act obligations, without undergoing comprehensive supervision, failing to meet capital and liquidity standards, and lacking Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance protection.
The association also warned of consumer protection gaps. They pointed out that digital assets held by cryptocurrency companies with trust licenses do not have the federal-level protection customers expect from licensed banks. The lawsuit argues that such licenses exempt many state-level consumer protection laws and regulate such entities much less than traditional banks.
The complaint document specifically named Protego Holdings because of serious flaws in its governance structure and risk control, and the ICBA requested the revocation of the company's conditional license.
The dispute is escalating as a large number of cryptocurrency companies flock to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seeking permission. The agency has processed or is reviewing applications from a number of digital asset companies, including Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, Kraken's parent company Payward, Jack Dorsey's Block, and well-known companies such as Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has previously separately accused the approvals of being illegal, but this claim has been denied by the industry.
The lawsuit comes as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is stepping up efforts to complete the development of rules related to the GENIUS Act stablecoins by November, adding a new battlefield to the conflict over how much cryptocurrencies should be integrated into the federal banking system.
