Crypto war in the U.S.: JPMorgan goes after Ripple and Circle
The clash between traditional banks and the crypto sector escalates again.
The fight between traditional banks and the crypto sector is heating up again. After Ripple Labs barely survived a years-long lawsuit with the SEC, a new front line emerges: five influential US banking associations demand that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) instantly freeze all crypto firms' requests for a trust bank license.
In a formal letter, the banks call for blocking license applications from Circle and Ripple among others. The core of the criticism: a lack of transparency and potential to undermine the U.S. banking system. The submitted documents—such as those from National Digital Trust Co, Ripple National Trust Bank, and Fidelity Digital Assets—would, according to the banks, be "too vague" and merely reference activities like "Digital Asset Custody" without laying out a clear business model.
So the banks are demanding not only more information disclosure but also an extension of the public comment period, supposedly to ensure greater public involvement. Their underlying worry: Ripple, Circle and their peers want access to state banking services without actually operating as a trust institution.
"Holding digital assets is not a fiduciary activity,” the associations insist.
Under current OCC policy, crypto custody is indeed not considered a fiduciary service unless it's explicitly tied to managing estates or other trust obligations. But the bank lobby says a Ripple or Circle license without such ties would create an "back door to the U.S. banking system," which they say would trigger a flood of other applications.
The crypto world, however, isn't taking this lightly. Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of the crypto exchange Gemini and a Bitcoin billionaire, takes aim at the banks—and especially JPMorgan, which has been openly opposing the crypto sector. “JPMorgan and the bankers are trying to choke FinTech and crypto,” Winklevoss said on X.
He warns: “They want to take away your right to access your own bank data for free via apps like Plaid—then charge users and FinTechs exorbitant fees. Time to fight back.”
The message is clear: the U.S. crypto sector is at a crossroads—and the banks' attack seems to have just begun.
