The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a division of the United States Treasury that supervises banking in the country, on July 22, issued an interpretive letter clarifying that nationally chartered banks are allowed to provide cryptocurrency custody services to their customers extended to storing cryptographic keys associated with the currencies.
In its letter, the OCC recognizes the current need for banks and other financial service providers to leverage blockchain technology and provide related services to their customers. In addition to national banks, this permission extends to state banks and to loans/savings associations, also known as “thrifts.”