• OCC chief Jonathan Gould defended conditional crypto trust bank charter approvals
• Gould said regulators must abandon a “zero risk tolerance” approach to banking applications
• Firms including Coinbase, Ripple, Circle and Paxos received conditional charter approval
• Elizabeth Warren and banking lobby groups warned the approvals could increase systemic risks
• Gould argued lawsuits and scrutiny improve regulatory discipline and oversight
• OCC also backed tougher customer due diligence rules tied to Trump’s new executive order on banking compliance 

Jonathan Gould has mounted a forceful defense of the recent wave of national trust bank charter approvals granted to cryptocurrency and fintech firms, insisting U.S. regulators can no longer operate with what he described as a “zero risk tolerance” approach to banking oversight.

Speaking during Semafor’s Banking on the Future Forum, Gould said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was restoring a more practical and legally grounded approach to charter applications after years in which potential entrants were effectively discouraged from applying.

“We don’t have a zero risk tolerance anymore,” Gould said. “That’s not what the statute says. The statute talks about a reasonable chance of success.”

Gould argued that banking regulators became excessively restrictive following the 2008 financial crisis, noting that the OCC sometimes received as few as zero to two applications per year for new charters.

“That’s a disgrace,” he said.

Under Gould’s leadership, the OCC has conditionally approved approximately nine national trust charters, including applications tied to Coinbase, Ripple, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.

Gould, who previously served as chief legal officer at blockchain company Bitfury, has repeatedly argued that digital assets should no longer be viewed as fundamentally separate from the traditional financial system.

The approvals, however, have sparked growing criticism from both banking trade groups and Democratic lawmakers, who warn that crypto firms may be gaining access to banking privileges without facing the same regulatory burdens imposed on full-service banks.

Elizabeth Warren recently accused the OCC of improperly approving trust charters for cryptocurrency firms and demanded additional details about the agency’s decision-making process.

Gould appeared unfazed by reports that banking lobby groups are considering legal action against the OCC.

“I’m confident that we have full legal authority to do the things that we’re doing,” he said, adding that lawsuits can ultimately improve regulatory discipline.

“There’s nothing wrong with being on the receiving side of a lawsuit,” Gould said. “It makes sure that our pencils are a little bit sharpened.”

The Comptroller argued that pent-up demand and reforms to the deposit insurance process are contributing to the recent rise in applications.

He praised efforts by Travis Hill to accelerate what Gould described as a historically slow and burdensome review process for deposit insurance approvals.

Despite faster OCC decisions, applicants can still face long waits for deposit insurance clearance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, creating uncertainty for new market entrants.

Gould compared the U.S. banking sector to a “walled garden,” warning that excessive barriers to entry could eventually weaken innovation and reduce the system’s ability to serve consumers and businesses effectively.

“We need fresh entrants,” Gould said. “We need that constant refreshing of the system to ensure that, long term, it stays relevant and serves its function.”

The debate intensified further after Warren and Sen. Chris Van Hollen urged regulators to reject nonbank lender Enova’s proposed acquisition of digital bank Grasshopper Bank, citing concerns over alleged predatory lending practices and regulatory compliance failures.

Gould also defended President Donald Trump’s latest executive order directing regulators to strengthen customer due diligence requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act.

The order would give banks broader authority to gather additional customer information, including immigration status, as part of anti-money laundering and fraud prevention efforts.

Gould described the measures as “common-sense reforms” designed to help banks better identify higher-risk customers while maintaining flexibility in how institutions verify identities.

He linked the executive order to broader efforts by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and federal banking agencies to modernize anti-money laundering rules and focus regulatory attention more heavily on high-risk activities and customers.