Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY—BPI and Blockchain Association clash over OCC trust charters, (Nov 4, 2025)

By WK Editorial Staff

“[I]t’s time to drain the regulatory moat that protects traditional finance from new entrants.”

Responding to the release of a series of letters by the Bank Policy Institute urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to reject national trust bank charter applications submitted by five digital asset and payments firms, Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger criticized BPI’s stance, calling it a defense of the status quo and a barrier to innovation.

The BPI argued that the applicants—Paxos, Ripple, Wise, First National Digital Currency Bank, and National Digital Trust Co.—seek to perform core banking functions without deposit insurance or full regulatory oversight. The BPI’s letters warned that approval could destabilize the financial system and create an uneven playing field for traditional banks. The trade group also raised concerns about the applicants’ reliance on fee-based digital markets and limited public transparency in the application process (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Oct. 31, 2025.

Mersinger added, “Ultimately, it’s not BPI’s role to determine who merits a national trust charter—that responsibility lies with the OCC. We appreciate the agency’s careful, merit-based evaluation of each application, free from political or industry pressure.”

Companies: Bank Policy Institute; Blockchain Association; First National Digital Currency Bank; National Digital Trust Co; Paxos; Ripple; Wise

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