TLDRThe Digital Chamber rejected Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim that crypto trust charter approvals were improper.The group said Warren misread the National Bank Act and the OCC’s charter authority.Warren argued that firms like Ripple, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, Fidelity, and Coinbase face weaker standards.The Digital Chamber said federally regulated trust banks would not accept cash deposits or issue loans.Cody Carbone said the OCC should use its charter powers as Congress advances stablecoin regulation.Crypto industry group The Digital Chamber has pushed back against Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim that digital asset firms received improper national trust charter approvals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.According to The Digital Chamber, Sen. Warren’s criticism misreads the National Bank Act and the OCC’s authority to approve national trust charters for crypto firms. The group made the argument in a Tuesday letter to Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould.The response followed Warren’s letter to the OCC last week, where she said approvals involving Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, and Coinbase appeared to violate the National Bank Act. Warren also argued that the firms were not being held to the same standards as traditional banks.The Digital Chamber, which says it represents more than 250 crypto-related entities, rejected that view. In the letter, CEO Cody Carbone said Warren’s description of the approvals as “apparent violations” misread both the statute and the OCC’s long-running charter powers.The Digital Chamber Defends OCC Charter AuthorityCarbone told the OCC that national trust charters fall within the agency’s existing legal powers. According to The Digital Chamber, the approvals do not create full-service banks and do not allow the firms to take cash deposits or issue loans.The group said the firms would instead operate as federally regulated trust banks if they receive final approval. Under that structure, they would be allowed to custody customer assets while remaining outside the business model of deposit-taking commercial banks.Warren’s letter argued that the recently approved digital asset firms were attempting to use the charter process in a way that conflicts with the National Bank Act. She also said the companies appeared to have organized their applications after Congress passed stablecoin legislation last summer.The law cited by Warren is the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, known as the GENIUS Act. According to Warren, that law does not change the requirements of the National Bank Act or remove the OCC’s duty to apply banking standards.Carbone rejected that argument in his response. He said it would be inconsistent for Congress to create a federal framework for stablecoin issuers while the OCC refused to use its charter authority for firms seeking federal oversight.Stablecoin Rules Add Pressure To Charter DebateThe dispute comes as crypto firms continue to seek federal recognition through the OCC. Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos received conditional approvals last year, according to the report.Those approvals remain conditional, meaning the firms still need final clearance before operating under the trust-bank structure. If finalized, the charters would give the companies a federal pathway for custody services but would not place them in the same category as traditional banks that accept deposits and make loans.Warren has framed the issue as a financial-stability concern. In her letter, she warned that the OCC’s approvals could expose the banking system to risks if crypto firms receive federal charters without meeting bank-like requirements.The Digital Chamber framed the matter differently. The group said the OCC’s trust-charter process gives regulators direct oversight of digital asset firms instead of leaving them outside the federal banking framework.At the same time, the charter dispute has unfolded alongside other points of tension between banks, lawmakers, and crypto firms. The treatment of stablecoin rewards was one of the issues debated during work on crypto legislation, though lawmakers later resolved that dispute as the bill advanced.The post Digital Chamber Defends OCC Crypto Trust Charter Approvals appeared first on Blockonomi.