On April 26, Custodia Bank lodged a notice of appeal in its ongoing litigation against the US Federal Reserve.

The bank seeks to challenge a prior ruling that dismissed its claim to a Federal Reserve master account, a service granting direct access to the central bank’s system without intermediaries. Additionally, Custodia plans to contest a cost bill from one of the defendants, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which seeks $25,728.25 for deposition transcripts.

Custodia contends that the court should defer addressing costs until after the appeal decision, highlighting a previous instance where the court refrained from awarding costs in a similar case. It argues that early cost allocation may deter future legitimate lawsuits against the Federal Reserve.

In the earlier ruling on March 29, the court determined that Custodia Bank lacked entitlement to a Fed master account and denied its petition for a writ of mandamus compelling the Kansas Fed to process its application. The court dismissed Custodia’s petition for review, citing its failure to demonstrate a final decision by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors regarding the application rejection.

Furthermore, the court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over Custodia’s complaint due to the absence of a final decision.

Specializing in crypto services and not FDIC-insured, Custodia Bank had alleged that the Fed’s delayed and eventual denial of its application violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs federal agency rulemaking and implementation.

In response to the court's ruling, Custodia CEO Caitlin Long announced the bank's intent to appeal during a FOX Business interview on April 2. Long criticized recent cases that she believes grant the Federal Reserve broad discretion to reject new master accounts and close existing ones, noting that Custodia is not the only bank affected by such denials.