OCC Officially Ends Operation Choke Point 2.0 With Approval of Five National Digital Currency Banks
Regulatory blockade collapses as five crypto-native banks secure federal charters.
The Chokehold is Broken
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency just pulled the plug on its infamous backdoor campaign. Operation Choke Point 2.0—the regulatory shadow war aiming to starve crypto firms of banking services—is officially over. The signal? The simultaneous approval of five national trust charters for digital currency banks.
Five Keys to the Kingdom
This isn't a tentative nod or a pilot program. It's a full-scale policy reversal. Five institutions, built from the ground up for digital assets, now operate with the same federal authority as any legacy bank. They can custody crypto, facilitate payments, and provide liquidity—all under the OCC's direct supervision. The number is specific, deliberate, and sends a clear message: the era of banking blacklists is finished.
A New Financial Architecture
Forget begging for scraps from traditional correspondents. These new banks create a parallel financial rail. They cut out intermediaries, bypass legacy settlement delays, and provide the regulatory clarity that has stifled institutional adoption for years. The infrastructure for a digital asset economy just got its cornerstone.
The Ironic Twist
Wall Street spent a decade dismissing crypto as a fringe experiment—right up until the federal government started chartering its dedicated banks. Now, the very institutions built to bypass the old system are becoming its most regulated players. Talk about beating them, then joining them… and potentially eating their lunch.
The gatekeepers didn't just open the door. They handed over the blueprints and approved five new gatekeepers of their own. The future of finance won't be asking for permission—it's already getting its own bank charter.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has given the green light to five national digital currency banks. The bold move significantly negates Operation Choke Point 2.0 observed during the Biden administration, which heavily unbanked crypto projects.
OCC Approves Five National Digital Currency Banks
According to the announcement, the OCC issued a conditional approval of five national digital currency banks. As such, the five new national digital currency banks join 60 other institutions with trust bank charters.
Among the five institutions that received conditional approval of national trust banks include:
- First National Digital Currency Bank.
- Ripple National Trust Bank.
- BitGo Bank & Trust.
- Fidelity Digital Assets.
- Paxos Trust Company.
“New entrants into the federal banking sector are good for consumers, the banking industry, and the economy. The OCC will continue to provide a path for both traditional and innovative approaches to financial services to ensure the federal banking system keeps pace with the evolution of finance and supports a modern economy,” Jonathan Gould, Comptroller of the Currency, noted.
Major Leap for Crypto Liquidity
The approval of five national digital currency banks is a major milestone for the crypto industry, which suffered during the previous administration. Moreover, the collapse and closure of Signature Bank, Silvergate Bank, Synapse Financial Technologies, and Custodia Bank heavily impacted crypto liquidity during the past few years.
However, under President Donald Trump, the crypto industry has thrived. The conditional approval of the five national digital currency banks has coincided with the ongoing Fed’s monetary policy change, which involves liquidity injection through its Quantitative Easing (QE) and interest rate cuts.
