U.S. banks have finally received clear guidance on how they can interact with crypto, as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a new interpretive letter confirming that limited on-balance-sheet crypto holdings are allowed – but only for very narrow operational purposes.
The ruling, outlined in Interpretive Letter 1186, states that national banks can use digital assets to pay blockchain network fees and may keep small amounts of crypto on hand when those assets are directly required to support regulated banking activities.
This includes situations where a bank processes tokenized transactions or operates payments systems that rely on public blockchains.
The OCC also acknowledged that institutions experimenting with blockchain platforms may hold minimal crypto reserves for testing infrastructure or onboarding new technologies.
These allowances, however, must stay tightly controlled, tied to specific use cases, and managed under strict risk frameworks.
While the update stops far short of permitting broad crypto speculation by banks, it delivers long-awaited clarity for firms building tokenized settlement systems, digital-asset rails, or blockchain-powered infrastructure. It represents another incremental – but meaningful – shift in the federal government’s approach to integrating crypto into traditional financial operations.
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