11.19.2025

OCC Confirms Banks Can Hold Crypto to Pay Network Fees

11.19.2025
OCC Confirms Banks Can Hold Crypto to Pay Network Fees

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) confirmed permissible bank activities related to paying crypto-asset network fees.

The OCC published Interpretive Letter 1186 confirming that a national bank may pay network fees, sometimes referred to as “gas fees,” on blockchain networks to facilitate otherwise permissible activities and hold, as principal, amounts of crypto-assets on balance sheet necessary to pay network fees for which the bank anticipates a reasonably foreseeable need.

The OCC also confirms that a national bank may hold amounts of crypto-assets as principal necessary for testing otherwise permissible crypto-asset-related platforms, whether internally developed or acquired from a third party.

As with any activity, a national bank must conduct these activities in a safe and sound manner and in compliance with applicable law.

Source: OCC

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Citadel Securities told the SEC that trading tokenized equities should remain under existing market rules, a position that drew responses from various crypto industry groups. @ShannyBasar for @MarketsMedia:

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda argued that private assets belong in retirement plans, saying diversified alts can improve risk-adjusted returns and that the answer to optimal exposure “is not zero.” @ShannyBasar reporting for @MarketsMedia:

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