Catenaa, Tuesday, November 18, 2025- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said US banks can hold and use certain cryptocurrencies to pay required network fees, marking a shift in federal oversight as digital assets play a larger role in financial operations.
The guidance, released earlier today in Interpretive Letter 1186, said banks may keep crypto on their balance sheets when needed to process blockchain transactions.
The OCC cited Ethereum as a primary example because transactions on that network must be paid in ETH.
The agency said that banks could maintain ETH reserves or obtain tokens through exchanges or third-party services, adding that the process can raise operational and pricing risks.
The clarification follows broader changes under the Trump administration.
The Federal Reserve recently withdrew earlier guidance that discouraged crypto activity, while regulators issued a joint statement this summer outlining how existing banking rules apply to digital-asset custody and related services.
The OCC also stated that banks may buy and sell crypto assets for themselves. It removed references to reputation risk in its manuals, though officials stressed that expectations on risk management remain unchanged.
The latest interpretation is viewed as an effort to align federal rules with on-chain activity, where network fees are unavoidable for institutions that interact with blockchain systems.
The letter also signals a growing acceptance of limited, operational crypto holdings within the federal banking framework.
