US federal banking agencies' framework for bank crypto-asset, stablecoin and tokenisation activities

Key points

• National banks may provide crypto-asset custody, certain stablecoin services and take part in node verification networks without first obtaining supervisory non-objection.^[1]
• Banks may buy and sell crypto-assets held in custody at the customer's direction and may outsource custody and execution to third parties under normal third-party risk management.^[2]
• State member banks no longer need to give the Fed advance notice of crypto-asset activities or obtain non-objection for dollar-token activities; these are handled through normal supervision.^[3]
• An eligible tokenised security should generally receive the same regulatory capital treatment as the non-tokenised security; the capital rule is technology neutral.^[4]

What it covers i

Stablecoin

Timeline

1. 7 Mar 2025 · Amended
   OCC Interpretive Letter 1183 removes the prior non-objection requirement and the OCC leaves the 2023 joint crypto statements.^[1]
2. 24 Apr 2025 · Amended
   Fed withdraws its crypto-asset and dollar-token supervisory letters and, with the FDIC, the 2023 joint statements.^[3]
3. 7 May 2025 · Amended
   OCC Interpretive Letter 1184 confirms custody-related trading and outsourcing.^[2]
4. 17 Dec 2025 · Amended
   Fed replaces its 2023 Section 9(13) policy statement with one creating a pathway for innovative activities by state member banks.^[5]
5. 5 Mar 2026 · Amended
   FDIC, Fed and OCC issue FAQs on the capital treatment of tokenised securities.^[4]

Instruments

• Federal Reserve Policy Statement on Section 9(13) of the Federal Reserve Act (2025)Policy statement (final rules) · In force · 17 Dec 2025
• Federal Reserve withdrawal of crypto-asset and dollar-token guidance (SR 22-6 and SR 23-8)Guidance · In force · 24 Apr 2025
• OCC Interpretive Letter 1183: bank authority for crypto custody, stablecoin and node activitiesInterpretive letter · In force · 7 Mar 2025
• OCC Interpretive Letter 1184: crypto-asset custody, execution and outsourcingInterpretive letter · In force · 7 May 2025
• FDIC, Federal Reserve and OCC FAQs on the capital treatment of tokenised securitiesGuidance · In force · 5 Mar 2026

Permissions granted under it

• OCC national trust bank charters for digital asset firms (December 2025 cohort)Circle, Paxos, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Investments

Deployments operating under it

None recorded with a source yet.

Likely relevant to i

Sources i