
Coinbase receives final OCC approval while congressional investigators seek documents on crypto trust charters and Trump administration ties.
Federal regulators are expanding avenues for crypto companies to operate under US rules, with Coinbase receiving final OCC approval for its national trust company, while Senators Warren and Blumenthal demand records on crypto trust-charter approvals and dealings with Trump-linked figures.
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Federal regulators are opening more avenues for crypto companies to operate under US rules while congressional investigators ask to see records behind those decisions. Lawmakers want to know how regulators justified new trust charters, how crypto companies handled compliance, and what dealings they had with people tied to President Donald Trump's administration.
Federal regulators are opening more avenues for crypto companies to operate under US rules, while congressional investigators are asking to see the records behind those decisions. Lawmakers want to know how regulators justified new trust charters, how crypto companies handled compliance and what dealings they had with people tied to President Donald Trump's administration.
On Nov. 9, Coinbase announced that its national trust company had received final approval to open. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval in April. The company said the charter gives its custody business a consistent federal framework.
Lawmakers had been questioning how federal regulators were using their existing authority to expand crypto companies' reach. In a May 18 letter to the OCC, Sen. Elizabeth Warren challenged at least nine crypto trust-charter approvals, including Coinbase's earlier conditional approval. She asked for the applications, the legal analyses behind the approvals and any related communications between OCC officials and the White House or Trump family.
Four days before Coinbase's announcement, Sen. Richard Blumenthal renewed demands for records from Binance, Tether and two Trump-linked ventures. He gave them until Jan. 4, 2027, to turn over the requested records voluntarily and warned that his subcommittee could take other steps to obtain them.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Binance, Tether, and the two Trump-linked ventures will turn over records or face subcommittee action by January 4, 2027
Possible · Within months

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