Crypto.com said it received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, setting the stage for the exchange to expand its custody services under federal supervision.
The planned Foris Dax National Trust Bank, operating as Crypto.com National Trust Bank, would operate as a limited-purpose national trust bank. It would not accept deposits or issue loans, but would instead offer services such as custody, staking and trade settlement of digital assets, including those on its in-house Cronos blockchain.
While Crypto.com already has a qualified custodian, Crypto.com Custody Trust Co., regulated by the New Hampshire Banking Department, the OCC statutes bring its institutional offerings together under a single federal framework.
This is important for exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers, asset managers and other institutional clients, who often prefer custodians with national oversight, who can streamline operational and compliance processes.
The national charter offers that one-stop-shop structure, although only for trust services, not traditional banking.
Crypto.com filed its application with the OCC in October. While the conditional approval is not final, it marks an important step forward. Last week, Striple’s stablecoin firm Bridge also gained initial approval to form a national trust bank.
These approvals make the companies join a growing group of crypto companies looking to build within a federal framework. In December, BitGo, Circle, Ripple, Paxos and Fidelity Digital Assets received similar conditional approvals.
