Update (May 26 at 9:30 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include statements from The Digital Chamber.
The Digital Chamber, a cryptocurrency advocacy group that has been closely involved in negotiations with US lawmakers over digital asset-related legislation, questioned three-term Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s understanding of banking laws as applied to crypto companies.
In a Tuesday letter to the US Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Jonathan Gould, Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone challenged many of the claims in the Massachusetts lawmaker’s May 18 letter. In that letter, Warren said that the OCC may have violated the National Bank Act by approving national trust charters for nine crypto companies “that intend to engage in activities that appear to go far beyond the narrow set of activities permitted by law.”
“The claim that these firms seek to ‘evade’ regulations […] or pose risks to the safety and soundness of the banking system is contradicted by their own conduct,” Carbone said in his Tuesday letter. “These companies voluntarily sought federal oversight: each applied for a national trust bank charter, submitted to OCC examination authority, and accepted the compliance obligations that come with federal supervision.”
Source: The Digital Chamber
Warren’s concerns stemmed from OCC's approving or conditionally approving charter applications from Coinbase, Crypto.com’s parent company, Ripple, Stripe, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, Protego Holdings and Paxos. She said that the companies “want to evade the fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank” and questioned what led to the approvals, implying influence from the White House.
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As the ranking member of the US Senate Banking Committee, Warren has repeatedly criticized lawmakers and regulators for supporting policies with potential conflicts of interest related to US President Donald Trump’s ties to the crypto industry. Cointelegraph sought comment from Warren’s office but did not receive an immediate response.
“If Senator Warren believes the OCC exceeded its authority, the appropriate response is to identify where the statute draws the line she says was crossed,” Carbone said in response to a request for clarification from Cointelegraph. “We'd welcome that debate. But ‘this seems wrong’ from a member of the Banking Committee isn't a legal argument. And the OCC shouldn’t retreat from a legally sound decision because of political pressure, regardless of who’s applying it.”
Other crypto companies’ OCC applications are pending review
Warren’s concerns about the OCC approvals came as the banking regulator is considering applications from the Trump family-backed crypto business World Liberty Financial as well as Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
Source: OCC
Payward said it intended to “provide fiduciary custody and other services primarily for digital assets” if approved. In January, Warren called on Gould to delay consideration of World Liberty’s application until Trump divested from the platform, citing financial conflicts of interest.
As of Tuesday, the OCC listed 14 digital asset companies that had submitted licensing applications.
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