Crypto Firm Zerohash Seeks Bank Charter
Zerohash, a digital asset infrastructure provider and partner of Morgan Stanley, has applied for a national trust bank charter from the OCC. The move aims to further bridge the gap between traditional finance and the crypto market. It's a sign that regulatory and compliance infrastructure for digital assets continues to mature.
Zerohash's application is part of a major trend seeing crypto infrastructure companies pursue federal regulation. It joins a queue of firms like Coinbase and the Trump family's World Liberty Financial, all seeking national trust bank charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This specific charter allows for holding and managing assets, a key step for firms that provide custody services. The firm is not Morgan Stanley's only crypto partner, but their alliance is significant, aimed at enabling crypto trading on the E*Trade platform. Morgan Stanley itself applied for a similar "Digital Trust" charter in February 2026, signaling a deep commitment from Wall Street giants to build federally regulated digital asset infrastructure. A national trust bank charter is distinct from a full banking license; it doesn't permit taking customer deposits or making loans. Instead, it allows Zerohash to offer regulated services like digital asset custody, staking, and stablecoin management across all 50 states under a single federal framework, a significant operational advantage over state-by-state licensing. The proposed CEO for the new "Zerohash National Trust Bank" is Stephen Gardner, the company's current Chief Legal Officer. His appointment underscores the legal and regulatory focus of this strategic move. Gardner has stated the application is a "natural next step" as digital assets become more integrated into the core financial system. This move follows a period of significant growth for the Chicago-based firm. In January 2026, Zerohash raised $250 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. Earlier, Mastercard had reportedly considered acquiring the company for up to $2 billion, though Zerohash chose to remain independent. The push for federal charters accelerated in late 2025 when the OCC granted conditional approvals to five major crypto players at once: Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. While many firms are now in the pipeline, Anchorage Digital Bank is the only crypto-native company to have achieved a fully operational national trust bank status so far. If approved, Zerohash would expand its suite of API-first products, which already provide the backend for crypto trading, settlement, and custody to clients like BlockRock, Kalshi, and Ramp. The charter would specifically bolster its offerings in custodial staking, transfer agent services, and stablecoin management.
