NCRC Statement: OCC Cryptocurrency Charters Create “Banks In Name Only” That Will Prey Upon Consumers, Damage Economy

In response to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) approval of national trust bank charters for five cryptocurrency "stablecoin" firms, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) President and CEO Jesse Van Tol issued the following statement:

Today's OCC announcement sends a dangerous message to the financial industry: break the law, harm consumers, and facilitate fraud-and you will be rewarded with a bank charter. Circle, Ripple and their affiliates have repeatedly flouted the basic rules of the financial industry to enable sanctions violations, withhold funding from investors and trick customers with misleading and aggressive solicitations.

Granting these cryptocurrency charters creates a new and frightful category of banks-in-name-only - institutions that can take on bank-like powers and public credibility without the core public-interest obligations communities rely on, including meaningful community reinvestment, fair lending accountability, and strong consumer protections.

It will further enrich insiders in the crypto industry at the expense of the rest of us. It opens the door to a litany of different potential crises, from radical disinvestment in the American economy to widespread abuse of customers to the global subversion of money laundering laws.

Giving these companies more power and legitimacy is a bad idea that will inevitably do material harm to hardworking families. No wonder the administration dumped this news out on a Friday afternoon in December.

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