In short
- Crypto.com has applied to the Office of the Currency Comptroller (OCC) for a national bank trust charter.
- The company joins a growing list of crypto companies seeking the charter, such as Coinbase, Circle and Stripe-owned Bridge.
- National banks can now take custody of crypto, and more crypto-friendly regulations may be on the way, such as access to accelerated “skinny” principal accounts.
Crypto exchange Crypto.com has filed a national trust bank charter application with the Office of the Currency Comptroller (OCC), the company announced Friday.
The application places the company on a growing list of crypto companies, such as USDC publisher Circlecrypto exchange Coin baseAnd Bridgethe stablecoin arm of private payments company Stripe, which has also applied for the national bank’s charter.
“Building Crypto.com’s product and service portfolio through regulated and secure offerings has been our focus since day one,” Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said in a statement. “We are excited to take this next step by applying for a national trust bank charter and look forward to continuing to pursue opportunities to provide customers with the trusted services they need.”
If approved, the charter would strengthen Crypto.com’s case as the “custody service destination of choice,” the company said.
Crypto companies have been applying for national trust banking charters since earlier this year, when the OCC gave banks approval to buy, sell and manage crypto assets in their custody. This month Peter Thiel was supported crypto bank Erebor became the first to earn a conditional federal charter, making it the second to ever do this, after Anchorage Digital.
Further crypto-friendly banking developments were detailed this week when Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the Fed is exploring issuing “skinny master accounts” on an accelerated timeline to companies that have been unable to secure a full master account.
Master accounts, which are managed by federally chartered banks, provide access to the Fed and allow for instant payments. Historically, crypto institutions have tried, but ultimately failed to earn them.
The so-called ‘skinny’ main accounts would come with some restrictions, such as not including the privileges of interest payments on account balances or protection against overdrafts.
Earlier this year, Crypto.com has relaunched its institutional exchange amid renewed optimism in crypto regulation in the US with the return of the Trump administration. The company is also plays a role in the prediction marketsalthough it was hit with a regulatory setback earlier this month when Nevada The judge rejected a request for an injunction.
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