US regulators are continuing to give crypto firms paths to operate within existing federal rules even as members of Congress press for more detail on how those approvals were reached. The latest example came from Coinbase, which said its national trust company has now cleared the final step with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The development places a concrete regulatory approval alongside a widening Senate review of crypto trust charters, compliance practices and communications involving firms, federal officials and figures linked to President Donald Trump’s administration.
Coinbase says OCC approval is now final
Coinbase announced on Nov. 9 that its national trust company had received final approval to open from the OCC. The company had previously received preliminary conditional approval in April.
According to Coinbase, the charter allows its custody business to operate under what it described as a consistent federal framework. The announcement marked the completion of a process that had already drawn attention in Washington because of broader questions over how bank regulators are using existing powers in the crypto sector.
Sen. Warren seeks records on trust-charter decisions
The OCC’s role in approving crypto-related trust structures has already become the subject of Senate scrutiny. In a May 18 letter to the agency, Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned at least nine crypto trust-charter approvals, including the earlier conditional approval granted to Coinbase.
Warren asked the OCC to provide the applications tied to those approvals, the legal analysis used to justify them and any related communications involving OCC officials and the White House or the Trump family. Her request signaled concern not only about the approvals themselves but also about the process and rationale behind them.
Blumenthal broadens pressure on compliance records
Senate scrutiny has not been limited to the OCC. Four days before Coinbase disclosed its final approval, Sen. Richard Blumenthal renewed demands for records from Binance, Tether and two ventures linked to Trump.
Blumenthal gave the companies until Jan. 4, 2027, to produce the requested materials voluntarily. He also warned that his subcommittee could pursue other steps to obtain the records if the firms did not comply. The request adds another line of inquiry focused on how major crypto businesses handled compliance obligations and what communications they may have had with politically connected parties.
What is confirmed next
For now, the confirmed regulatory action is Coinbase’s final OCC approval and the confirmed political response is a set of ongoing Senate information demands. The broader dispute is not over whether the charter was issued, but over the documentation, legal reasoning and communications surrounding decisions like it.
The next clear milestone is Blumenthal’s Jan. 4, 2027 deadline for voluntary production of records. At the same time, Warren’s earlier request continues to frame questions about how federal regulators justified at least nine crypto trust-charter approvals under current law.
Source: cointelegraph.com