Senator Elizabeth Warren accuses U.S. regulator of approving unqualified crypto banks

The Senate Banking Committee's top Democrat sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency questioning the charters of nine crypto firms.

CoinDeskMay 191 min readVerified

Senator Elizabeth Warren accuses U.S. regulator of approving unqualified crypto banks — Image · CoinDesk

The gist

1-point summary · 1 min

The Senate Banking Committee's top Democrat sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency questioning the charters of nine crypto firms.

The Senate Banking Committee's top Democrat sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency questioning the charters of nine crypto firms.

Source

Skip to main contentCrypto NewsMay 19, 2026, 11:04 a.m. EDT2 min readU.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is questioning the OCC about approvals of crypto trust banks. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) SummaryU.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter to the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency questioning his agency's approval of crypto firm charters to act as trust banks. She argued the OCC is letting the firms act like full-fledged banks but allowing them to have narrow trust charters that don't hold them to high enough standards. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding the agency that regulates national banks explain its chartering of nine crypto-focused institutions, which she argued didn't meet federal regulations and constitute a risk to the financial system.The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted trust charters to a series of banks as the agency embraced President Donald Trump's agenda to elevate the crypto sector and establish a friendly regulatory environment. Now Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, sent a letter to OCC chief Jonathan Gould, calling for an explanation of approvals for trusts belonging to such companies as Coinbase, Paxos, Ripple, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Asset Services."These companies are effectively crypto banks that want to evade the fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank," Warren, who has criticized Gould's decision previously in hearings, wrote in the letter. "Your decision to facilitate this regulatory arbitrage not only conflicts with federal law, it also poses serious risks to consumers, the safety and soundness of the banking system, and the separation of banking and commerce."The OCC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Warren's letter.The senator pointed out the crypto companies are avoiding the process to be approved as highly regulated, full-service national banks and taking the narrower trust-bank charters, even though she argues they "look like crypto banks, not trust companies.""The business plans include language that suggests the companies intend to engage in non-fiduciary custodial activities, facilitating payments and lending activities, and conducting stablecoin activities closely related to deposit-taking," she wrote.Among her requests for information on the OCC process, she asked for records of any communications between the agency and President Donald Trump or his family members on chartering firms.The Massachusetts lawmaker has repeatedly criticized the pending charter track for World Liberty Financial Inc., the crypto company that Trump and his family hold a stake in.12345678910

Integrity note · Xela does not rewrite or paraphrase article content. The excerpt above is the source publication's own words, sanitized for display. For the full piece — including any quotes, charts, or images — read it at CoinDesk. Xela's rewritten version is off for this story, so there's no editorial angle attached — you're getting the source's reporting unfiltered. When the rewrite is on, we add a What this means block underneath with the operator/trader takeaway.

What people are saying

Discussion

Hot takes

0/280

Loading takes…

Comments

Discussion · 0

Loading comments…

Keep readingCrypto & Web3 desk

See all in Crypto →

·Aug 16

The SEC meeting that wasn't: State of Crypto

There were hopes that regulators could move if the Clarity Act didn't advance, but those, too, may be paused.

CoinDeskVerified

·Aug 16

Gemini 3.7 Flash Review: Google's Cheap Model Isn’t Dumb Anymore

Three weeks after a Flash release that couldn't produce a working file, Google's budget tier zero-shots a playable game. It still can't reason, and a free 27B model still writes better.

DecryptVerified

·Aug 16

Crypto investors are looking past market-cap rankings and back to fundamentals

Investors are starting to judge crypto tokens on usage, economics and value capture rather than market-cap rank, industry executives said.

CoinDeskVerified

·Aug 16

Bitcoin analysis shows what bulls need to do next to end this bearish 2026

Bitcoin stabilizes near $63,000, but reclaiming $64,000 is the real test Bitcoin is stabilizing near $63,100 after buyers defended the lower part of its recent range. That is constructive, but it is not yet a confirmed recovery. BTC must first overcome resistance near $63,175-$63,270, while reclaiming and holding $64,000-$64,095 remains the more important test. Key takeaways for Bitcoin traders and investors Current position: BTC is holding above the previous month’s lower value boundary near $62,380. Immediate resistance: Buyers need to clear $63,130-$63,175, followed by $63,247-$63,270. Main recovery test: A sustained reclaim of $64,000-$64,095 would carry much more weight than a temporary bounce near $63,000. Major support: The broader $62,380-$62,535 region remains the most important defended zone. Bullish confirmation: Repeated closes, consolidation or a successful retest above $64,095 would show that Bitcoin is beginning to establish higher accepted value. Data note: The latest daily, four-hour and one-hour candles were incomplete when this analysis was prepared. Exchange-specific Bitcoin prices may also differ slightly. I'm also closely monitoring the digital asset space after , putting immediate pressure on lower order-flow shelves as bulls fight to defend structural trendlines. Regulatory headwinds also resurfaced as the , injecting fresh institutional hesitation into active trading books. Meanwhile, broader risk sentiment showed divergence across asset classes as , underscoring rotational breadth away from mega-cap tech into small-cap momentum. Macro headwinds and geopolitical posturing remain front and center following headline chatter that , all while monetary policy uncertainty lingers after amidst baseline model variances. Why Bitcoin’s stabilization is constructive but incomplete Bitcoin recently fell to approximately $62,535, where the decline attracted meaningful buying. Price subsequently recovered toward $63,100, strengthening the case that buyers are willing to defend the lower part of the previous month’s trading range. What stands out to me, however, is how little upward progress followed that buying. Several periods showed positive buying pressure, but BTC remained concentrated around $63,050 and repeatedly struggled to extend beyond $63,150-$63,175. In simple terms, buyers have shown that they can slow the decline, but they have not yet shown that they can move Bitcoin into a clearly higher trading range. This is the difference between stabilization and recovery: Stabilization means sellers are no longer pushing price lower with the same ease. Recovery means buyers are lifting price, holding above resistance and shifting the market’s most active trading area higher. Bitcoin has shown the first condition. The second still needs confirmation. Why $62,380 and $64,095 matter The previous month’s value area provides a useful map of where most Bitcoin trading took place: Value Area Low near $62,380: The lower boundary of the previous month’s heavily traded range. Point of Control near $64,095: The price that attracted the most trading activity during the month. Value Area High near $65,050: The upper boundary of the previous month’s accepted range. BTC is currently about $720 above the monthly Value Area Low, but almost $1,000 below the monthly Point of Control. Holding above $62,380 tells us that demand inside the previous month’s range has not completely failed. Remaining below $64,095 tells us that buyers have not regained control of the broader value structure. This is also why $64,095 may be more important than $64,000 itself. The round number attracts attention, but $64,095 represents the previous month’s busiest price area. A brief move above $64,000 could still become another failed breakout. Holding above $64,095 would provide stronger evidence that the market is accepting higher prices again. As discussed in our previous analysis, Bitcoin’s created technical repair work for buyers. That repair is not complete simply because BTC has bounced from $62,535. Bitcoin support and resistance levels to watch What would strengthen the bullish Bitcoin scenario? Swing traders should have 3 key price levels: The Value Area Low (VAL), Point of Control (POC) and Value Area High (VAH) of the previous month. Together, these levels map the previous month’s main area of accepted trading: the VAL marks its lower boundary, the VAH its upper boundary, and the POC the price where the most volume traded. Traders watch them because holding inside the area suggests continued acceptance, while a sustained break outside it may signal that the market is searching for a new value zone. The first constructive step would be sustained trade above $63,175. Buyers would then need to clear and hold above $63,247-$63,270. That would improve the probability of a move toward $63,350 and, eventually, the much larger $64,000-$64,095 test. A more convincing recovery would include: Bitcoin reclaiming $64,000. Price moving above the monthly point of control near $64,095. A pullback successfully defending the reclaimed area. Trading activity beginning to concentrate above $64,095 rather than immediately slipping back below it. If that sequence develops, approximately $65,050 becomes the next major value-area objective. What this means: Acceptance is more than touching a level. It means price spends time above it, survives pullbacks and begins treating the higher area as support. What would weaken the stabilization attempt? Failure to hold $62,920-$62,800 would weaken the current short-term base and increase the probability of another test of $62,535. The more serious bearish development would be sustained trade below $62,380. That would place BTC outside the previous month’s accepted value area and suggest that the market may need to search for demand at lower prices. Traders should still distinguish between a brief move below $62,380 and genuine acceptance beneath it. Crypto markets can produce fast stop-runs through visible support before reversing. Repeated closes or continued trading below the level would carry more bearish significance than a momentary sweep. What Bitcoin traders may consider watching Different traders may use these levels in different ways, at their own discretion: Short-term breakout confirmation: Watch whether BTC can break above $63,175 and successfully retest it, with $63,247-$63,270 providing the next validation area. Support-zone reaction: If BTC returns to $62,380-$62,535, watch whether buyers defend it again or whether selling begins to hold below the zone. Broader recovery confirmation: Treat $64,000-$64,095 as the decisive recovery test instead of assuming that every bounce from $63,000 marks a durable bottom. Because Bitcoin trades continuously, weekend conditions can sometimes involve thinner liquidity and less reliable breakouts. Confirmation through time, repeated closes or a successful retest may therefore be more useful than reacting to the first price spike. What should Bitcoin traders watch next? Bitcoin has defended the lower part of the previous month’s value area, but the rebound still needs to prove itself. The immediate challenge is to move beyond $63,175 and $63,270. The much larger test remains $64,000-$64,095. A successful reclaim would indicate that Bitcoin is returning toward the center of the previous month’s accepted value rather than merely bouncing from support. Until that happens, Bitcoin may be stabilizing, but it is not yet showing a fully confirmed bullish recovery. This analysis presents conditional market scenarios and opinions (not promises) at investingLive.com, not a guarantee of future performance. Traders should consider volatility, position size and their own risk limits before acting. This article was written by Itai Levitan at investinglive.com.

ForexliveSingle source

Newsletter

Track crypto & web3 every morning.

Daily digest tuned to this beat. The 5 stories most worth your time. Unsubscribe anytime.