The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has given U.S. national banks a new green light: they can now help customers buy and sell crypto through riskless principal trades. In simple terms, banks can step in between two customers, match a buy and a sell, and move the crypto instantly—without holding it or taking market risk.
What the OCC Just Allowed
This update came on December 9 through Interpretive Letter 1188. The OCC explained that banks can briefly buy a digital asset from one customer and immediately sell it to another in a fully offsetting trade. Because the bank isn’t holding the crypto or guessing the market, the OCC considers it a low-risk activity.
They compared it to the kind of brokerage work banks already do in traditional finance. The message is clear: the rules should focus on risk, not on whether something is called “crypto.”
But There Are Conditions
Banks that want to offer this service still need to meet strong requirements. The OCC says they must have:
- Solid risk-management controls
- Transparent customer protections
- Strong compliance and anti-fraud systems
- Safe, reliable operations
Supervisors will review these activities just like they review any other banking service.
Why This Matters
This decision lines up with the bigger regulatory shift happening in 2025. The OCC, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC have all pulled back earlier warnings that pushed banks away from crypto. Regulators are trying to modernize old rules and respond to rising demand from institutions that want safe, compliant ways to deal with digital assets.
By allowing riskless principal crypto trades, banks can now help customers access crypto markets without taking on balance-sheet exposure. This could open the door for closer integration between traditional finance and digital assets—and create a more regulated path for crypto activity inside the U.S. banking system.
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