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Rules & RiskRegulation & EnforcementRoundup · 2026

Friday Filings: Banks Sue the OCC, Peirce Leaves the SEC

On Oct. 2, 2026, community bankers sued the OCC over crypto trust charters, Hester Peirce served her last day at the SEC, and Coinbase disclosed its chief accounting officer's retirement.

Updated on 7 min read · 20 sources
A classical government building in Washington, D.C.
A classical government building in Washington, D.C. Photo · Pexels
“The OCC fielded 40 bank charter applications in about 18 months, 23 of them involving digital assets, and on Oct. 2, 2026 community bankers sued to have the rule behind its crypto trust charters declared unlawful. Will a federal judge narrow the national trust charter before more crypto firms hold one?”

Community bankers sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Oct. 2, 2026, asking a federal court to declare unlawful the rule behind the national trust charters the agency has granted to crypto firms1. Hester Peirce served her last day as a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission the same day, which leaves two members on a five-seat commission56. Coinbase disclosed its chief accounting officer's retirement9. Anchorage Digital cut 17% of its staff, according to The Information, which cited people familiar with the matter8. This roundup covers 02:26 UTC on Oct. 2, 2026 to 02:26 UTC on Oct. 3, 2026.

Washington: a lawsuit and a last day

The Independent Community Bankers of America filed suit against the OCC on Oct. 2, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia1. Its complaint asks the court to find unlawful the OCC's March 2, 2026 final rule tied to the agency's Interpretive Letter 1176, along with the letter itself, and to vacate the conditional charter of Protego Holdings Corp.. Rebeca Romero Rainey, ICBA's president and chief executive, put the group's case in one sentence: “Congress did not create the national trust charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms seeking the credibility of a federal bank charter without the Community Reinvestment Act obligations, consolidated supervision, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC insurance that apply to insured depository institutions”. CoinDesk's Jesse Hamilton reported that an OCC spokesperson said the agency "does not comment on litigation"2.

Comptroller Jonathan Gould made the agency's case six weeks before the suit, at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium on Aug. 19, 2026, where he said the OCC had received 40 bank charter applications in roughly 18 months, 23 involving digital assets3. “My job is about the integrity of the banking system as a whole and making sure that it remains relevant over time,” Gould said, as ABA Banking Journal reported. ICBA's suit turns on how a judge reads the National Bank Act's limits on trust banks. The bankers need the court to hold trust banks to fiduciary work, and the OCC needs its 2026 rule to stand1.

23 of 40 OCC charter applications involved digital assets, Gould said Aug. 19, 2026

Bank charter applications to the OCC, as Comptroller Jonathan Gould counted them on Aug. 19, 2026

  • Involving digital assets: 23
  • Other applications: 17

    Source: ABA Banking Journal [3].

    Read the chart as a table
    ItemValue
    Involving digital assets23
    Whole40

    Peirce's departure closed more than eight years on the commission, which she joined in January 201856. Will Schwartz, a policy associate at the Blockchain Association, opened his CoinDesk column on Oct. 2 with "Today is Hester Peirce's last day as an SEC Commissioner". Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, the two members who remain, credited her in a joint statement on Oct. 1, 2026: “Long before regulatory clarity became a priority of this Commission, Commissioner Peirce was contending for it”4. She joins Regent University School of Law as an associate professor, AltsWire reported.

    In her final week, Peirce also wrote a statement on the SEC's Oct. 1, 2026 proposal on crypto custody by investment advisers and funds7. “Allowing eligible state trust companies to serve as permitted crypto custodians would increase competition and expand investor protection and investment options,” Peirce wrote, according to Unchained.

    Both sides, in their own words

    Will a federal judge narrow the national trust charter before more crypto firms hold one?

    “My job is about the integrity of the banking system as a whole and making sure that it remains relevant over time”
    Jonathan Gould, ABA Banking Journal, Aug 19, 2026Read this case in full

    People moves

    Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered digital asset bank valued at $4.2 billion earlier in 2026, cut 17% of its workforce, The Information reported on Oct. 2 citing people familiar with the matter8. Chief executive Nathan McCauley told employees during the week of Sept. 28, 2026, according to that report as Cointelegraph's Sam Bourgi relayed it. Bourgi put the cut near 68 jobs if headcount held at the roughly 400 employees McCauley cited in congressional testimony in February. Anchorage took a $100 million strategic investment from Tether earlier in 2026, and it issues Tether's U.S. stablecoin, USAT. Anchorage's public relations contact had yet to answer Cointelegraph's request for confirmation when the report ran.

    Coinbase said in a Form 8-K filed Oct. 2, 2026 that Jennifer Jones, its chief accounting officer and principal accounting officer, notified the company on Sept. 29 that she will retire9. Jones stays in the role until a successor arrives, and Coinbase has started a search, according to the filing and to TokenPost10. Chief financial officer Alesia J. Haas signed Coinbase's filing.

    Bitdeer Technologies Group reported in a Form 6-K filed Oct. 2, 2026 that director Sheldon Trainor-DeGirolamo notified its board on Oct. 1 of his resignation, effective Oct. 1511. “Mr. Trainor-DeGirolamo's resignation was not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices,” the Bitdeer filing says. Chief executive Jihan Wu signed Bitdeer's filing.

    Shutdowns and a hack

    Blast, an Ethereum layer-2 network, said in a post on X on Oct. 2, 2026 that it will shut down12. “The ongoing costs of maintaining Blast exceed the revenue generated by the L2, and we do not see a credible path to making the chain economically sustainable,” Blast wrote. Users can withdraw through Blast's interface until Oct. 26, 2026, and through its bridge contracts on Ethereum after that. The network raised $20 million in a round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto before it went live in November 2023, The Block's Jason Shubnell reported, and it held about $32 million in total value locked on Oct. 213.

    Bitget has frozen about $1.1 million of the nearly $388 million stolen in a cyberattack the week before, chief executive Gracy Chen told CNBC, Matthew Tan reported on Oct. 2, 202615. Chen said she was "not expecting to recover a lot of funds," and added that “exchanges have a responsibility to demonstrate how they protect users, particularly when something goes wrong”. Bitget refilled its Protection Fund to $300 million from its own capital.

    Bitget froze about $1.1 million of the nearly $388 million stolen, as of Oct. 2, 2026

    Funds taken in the late-September attack, and the part Bitget froze, in millions of US dollars

    • Frozen: $1.1M
    • Stolen: $388.0M

      Source: CNBC [15].

      Read the chart as a table
      ItemValueNote
      Stolen$388.0MNearly $388 million, per chief executive Gracy Chen
      Frozen$1.1MAbout $1.1 million, per Gracy Chen on Oct. 2, 2026

      Markets and tokenized assets

      Bitcoin ranged from $83,850.02 to $87,249.05 on Coinbase Exchange from the hour beginning 02:00 UTC on Oct. 2, 2026 to the hour beginning 01:00 UTC on Oct. 3, according to its BTC-USD hourly candles16. The high came in the hour beginning 12:00 UTC on Oct. 2, the low in the hour beginning 18:00 UTC, and the 02:00 UTC hour on Oct. 3 opened at $84,628.15. Analysts at QCP Capital said in a Friday note that bitcoin had broken out of the $82,500 to $85,700 range it traded in over the prior week, The Block's James Hunt reported17.

      BNB Chain became the first blockchain to hold more than $1 billion in tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds, Cointelegraph's Helen Partz reported on Oct. 2, 2026, citing Token Terminal data18. The network held $1.1 billion, about 30% of a $3.7 billion market, ahead of Ethereum at $828 million and Solana at $738 million. In January the market stood at $719 million, and BNB Chain held 13% of it.

      South Korea's Financial Services Commission opened public consultation on Oct. 2, 2026 on rules for issuing and trading tokenized stocks, bonds and funds, Cointelegraph's Ezra Reguerra reported19. Issuers that manage customer accounts would need at least 4 billion won ($2.8 million) in equity capital. Retail buyers would face a cap of 100 million won ($70,000) a year in net purchases on each over-the-counter exchange, with comments due by Nov. 11 and the rules set to take effect Feb. 4, 2027.

      Absa Group became the first bank in Africa to offer digital-asset custody, with approval from South African regulators for a service that supports Bitcoin, the XRP Ledger, Ethereum and USDC, Engineering News reported on Oct. 2, 202620. “We expect to extend this to other client segments in South Africa in due course, and are actively working on bringing the solution to some of our other African presence countries in line with regulatory approvals required,” said Rob Downes, head of digital assets at Absa's corporate and investment banking unit.

      By the numbers

      • 23 of 40: OCC bank charter applications in about 18 months that involved digital assets, as Comptroller Jonathan Gould counted them on Aug. 19, 20263.
      • Two of five: seats on the SEC filled after Hester Peirce's last day, Oct. 2, 20266.
      • Roughly 68 jobs: Cointelegraph's estimate of Anchorage Digital's 17% cut, reported Oct. 2, 20268.
      • $1,793: revenue Blast's network earned in September 2026 per DeFiLlama data cited by CoinDesk, against about $3.5 million in June 202414.
      • About $1.1 million: the frozen share of the nearly $388 million stolen from Bitget, per chief executive Gracy Chen on Oct. 2, 202615.
      • $87,249.05: bitcoin's high on Coinbase Exchange in the hour beginning 12:00 UTC on Oct. 2, 202616.
      • 30%: BNB Chain's share of the $3.7 billion market in tokenized stocks and ETFs on Oct. 2, 202618.

      What to watch

      The OCC's first filing in ICBA's case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will show how the agency defends Interpretive Letter 1176 and its March 2, 2026 rule1. Senate confirmation of a nominee to any of the three open SEC seats would end the two-member commission that began on Oct. 3, 20266. Anchorage Digital or Nathan McCauley could confirm the size of the cut The Information reported with a statement on the record8. An 8-K naming Coinbase's next chief accounting officer would close the search the company disclosed on Oct. 2, 20269.

      Sources

      1. ICBA, "ICBA Sues OCC Over National Trust Bank Charters for Crypto Firms," Independent Community Bankers of America, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.icba.org/w/occ-release-oct-2026
      2. Jesse Hamilton, "Bank group sues U.S. regulator over granting crypto trust charters," CoinDesk, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/10/02/bank-group-sues-u-s-regulator-over-granting-crypto-trust-charters
      3. "OCC’s Gould defends charter approvals for crypto activity," ABA Banking Journal, Aug. 19, 2026, https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2026/08/occs-gould-defends-charter-approvals-for-crypto-activity/
      4. Paul S. Atkins and Mark T. Uyeda, "Statement on Departure of Commissioner Hester Peirce," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oct. 1, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/atkins-uyeda-statement-commissioner-perice-100126
      5. Will Schwartz, "America at a crossroads: Commissioner Peirce’s parting challenge," CoinDesk, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.coindesk.com/opinion/2026/10/01/america-at-a-crossroads-commissioner-peirce-s-parting-challenge
      6. Mari Nicholson, "Hester Peirce to Leave SEC Friday, Leaving Two Commissioners in Place," AltsWire, Sept. 29, 2026, https://altswire.com/hester-peirce-to-leave-sec-friday-leaving-two-commissioners-in-place/
      7. Unchained, "SEC Proposes Letting Advisers and Funds Hold Client Crypto When No Custodian Can," Unchained, Oct. 2, 2026, https://unchainedcrypto.com/sec-proposes-letting-advisers-and-funds-hold-client-crypto-when-no-custodian-can/
      8. Sam Bourgi, "$4.2B crypto bank Anchorage Digital cuts 17% of workforce: Report," Cointelegraph, Oct. 2, 2026, https://cointelegraph.com/news/anchorage-digital-cuts-workforce-report
      9. Coinbase Global, Inc., "Coinbase Global, Inc. Form 8-K, Item 5.02 (date of report Sept. 29, 2026)," SEC EDGAR, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679788/000167978826000113/coin-20260929.htm
      10. Sonny Jang, "Coinbase Chief Accounting and Principal Accounting Officer Jennifer Jones Plans to Retire," TokenPost, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.tokenpost.com/news/people/26480
      11. Bitdeer Technologies Group, "Bitdeer Technologies Group Form 6-K: Resignation of Director," SEC EDGAR, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1899123/000121390026106360/ea0307497-6k_bitdeer.htm
      12. Blast, "Blast will be shutting down," X (@blast), Oct. 2, 2026, https://x.com/blast/status/2106032805280891073
      13. Jason Shubnell, "Paradigm-backed Layer 2 Blast to wind down network as costs exceed revenue," The Block, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-10-02-blast-ethereum-layer-2-shutting-down-417583
      14. Krisztian Sandor, "Once a $2 billion Ethereum layer-2, Blast is shutting down after assets plunge 98%," CoinDesk, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/02/once-a-usd2-billion-ethereum-layer-2-blast-is-shutting-down-after-assets-plunge-98
      15. Matthew Tan, "Bitget 'not expecting to recover a lot' from $388 million hack, CEO tells CNBC," CNBC, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/02/bitget-crypto-stolen-hack-recovery.html
      16. Coinbase Exchange, "BTC-USD hourly candles, Oct. 2 to Oct. 3, 2026," Coinbase Exchange, Oct. 3, 2026, https://api.exchange.coinbase.com/products/BTC-USD/candles?granularity=3600&start=2026-10-02T02:00:00Z&end=2026-10-03T02:00:00Z
      17. James Hunt, "Bitcoin nears highest level since January as $85,000 sell wall clears, US jobs data disappoints," The Block, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-10-02-bitcoin-nears-highest-level-january-85000-sell-wall-clears-us-jobs-data-disappoints-417570
      18. Helen Partz, "BNB Chain crosses $1B in tokenized stocks, ETFs as market hits $3.7B," Cointelegraph, Oct. 2, 2026, https://cointelegraph.com/markets/bnb-chain-1-billion-tokenized-assets-market-3-7-billion
      19. Ezra Reguerra, "South Korea advances tokenized securities rules ahead of 2027 rollout," Cointelegraph, Oct. 2, 2026, https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-tokenized-securities-rules-2027
      20. "Absa becomes first African bank to offer digital-asset custody," Engineering News, Oct. 2, 2026, https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/absa-becomes-first-african-bank-to-offer-digital-asset-custody-2026-10-02

      Cite this piece

      Ryan Elliott Dennis, "Friday Filings: Banks Sue the OCC, Peirce Leaves the SEC," CryptoLately, Oct 2, 2026, https://cryptolately.com/articles/friday-filings-oct-2-2026-banks-sue-the-occ-peirce-leaves-the-sec

      Tags: daily roundup · OCC · trust charters · SEC · crypto layoffs · tokenized stocks

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