The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in federal court in Washington on Oct. 2, asking judges to vacate the OCC’s national trust bank rule and Interpretive Letter 1176. ICBA argues the agency exceeded its authority by using a limited-purpose trust charter to accommodate non-depository, non-fiduciary activities by crypto and fintech firms under a lighter framework than insured banks face. The OCC finalized the rule in February, effective April 1, replacing the narrower reference to "fiduciary activities" with the National Bank Act’s wording covering "the operations of a trust company and activities related thereto." The agency says national trust banks have long performed related non-fiduciary work, including custody, and cites 12 U.S.C. 24(Seventh) as authority. The OCC has approved or conditionally approved 21 trust banks, 13 tied to crypto, including applicants associated with BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, First National Digital Currency Bank, Paxos and Ripple, as well as Bridge, Foris DAX, Coinbase, Laser Digital, Agora, Catena and Bastion. The case could determine how much stablecoin issuance, reserve management, payments, settlement, conversion and non-fiduciary custody can fit within a national trust charter. Pending applicants include zerohash, Dakota National Trust Bank, Payward (Kraken), Lorum National Trust Bank, EDX Trust and PAYO Digital Bank.