USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Gregory Strong, Sarah W. Chen, Brian Farber and Amil Sumaiya Malik, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
under the UCC – classifying the pledged asset as a “financial asset”, the borrower’s account as a “securi- ties account” and the lender as a “securities interme- diary” – which enables perfection of a security interest in the collateral by the lender. In July 2022, amendments to the UCC were approved by the ULC that create a new Article 12 which governs the transfer of property rights in a “controllable elec- tronic record” (CER) and revise the existing Article 9 to allow perfection of a security interest in a CER by obtaining control of the CER. Once the amendments are adopted and in effect in a particular state, the par- ties to a digital asset transaction under that state’s law can benefit from the new Article 12 and updated Article 9. By early 2026, approximately 30 states had adopted the 2022 amendments. 1.2.2 Access to Banking There are no formal, categorical restrictions in the United States on the banking or payment partners that firms providing crypto-asset services may use. However, in practice, access to banking services has historically been constrained by risk-based decision- making by financial institutions, driven in part by regu- latory expectations relating to anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions compliance, safety and soundness, and reputational risk. As a result, crypto-asset firms have, at times, faced challenges in obtaining and maintaining banking relationships, even where their activities are lawful. That landscape has begun to shift, with several 2025 federal initiatives reflecting a more permissive and co-ordinated regulatory posture on digital assets. On 23 January 2025, President Trump signed an Execu- tive Order creating the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. This group is tasked with evalu- ating the potential creation of a national digital asset stockpile and proposing criteria for establishing such a reserve, among other responsibilities. Federal banking regulators have also taken steps to reduce procedural barriers to crypto-related activi- ties and clarify that such activities may be conducted within existing supervisory frameworks. On 7 March 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Curren- cy issued Interpretive Letter 1183, confirming that
national banks and federal savings associations may engage in crypto-asset custody, certain stablecoin activities, and participation in distributed ledger net- works. The letter rescinded prior guidance that had required supervisory non-objection and emphasised that banks should apply existing risk management frameworks to such activities. On 28 March 2025, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued new guidance (FIL-7-2025) clarifying that supervised institutions may engage in certain permissible crypto-related activities without prior FDIC approval, provided they manage associ- ated risks adequately. In April 2025, the Federal Reserve withdrew prior guidance that had required state member banks to provide advance notice before engaging in certain crypto-related activities. Subsequent OCC Interpretive Letters in 2025 provided additional clarity regarding the scope of permissible crypto-related banking activities. Interpretive Letter 1184, issued on 7 May 2025, indicated that national banks providing crypto-asset custody services may also facilitate customer execution and trading on an incidental basis. Interpretive Letter 1186, issued on 18 November 2025, addressed the ability of banks to hold de minimis amounts of crypto-assets to pay network fees (eg, “gas”) in connection with custody and pay- ment services. Interpretive Letter 1188, issued on 9 December 2025, addressed the circumstances under which banks may engage in riskless principal crypto- asset transactions, including for tokenised securities and non-security crypto-assets, as an extension of existing brokerage and custody authorities. These developments have coincided with increased interest among digital asset firms in obtaining OCC national trust bank charters as a potential federal pathway for engaging in crypto-related custody and related services. Anchorage Digital Bank, NA became operational as a federally chartered national trust bank in January 2021, subject to OCC supervisory condi- tions typical for de novo institutions. In December 2025, OCC announced its conditional approval of five national trust bank charter applications, including Cir- cle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.
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