The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an explanatory letter on Tuesday, stating that banks need to obtain written authorization from the office before engaging in certain cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger, and stablecoin activities. 

The letter said banks need to notify the supervisory authority of their intention and receive a written notice of no objection from the authority before participating in such activities.

In July last year, the OCC, led by the then Acting Administrator Brian Brooks, issued an explanatory letter allowing the federal banks to custody cryptocurrencies, hold legal reserves for stablecoin operators and run a cryptocurrency network node. 

The explanation letter on Tuesday mentioned trust charters related to crypto custody. The letter stated that the OCC reserves the right to decide whether to continue to issue federal trust charters for crypto custody providers.

By Mary Liu