Crypto Firms Seek National Bank Charters

The push for federal charters extends beyond well-known exchanges, with crypto infrastructure firm Zerohash now seeking a U.S. National Trust Bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). If approved, Zerohash, which provides crypto services for major platforms like BlackRock and Kalshi, aims to expand its custody, staking, and settlement services under a unified federal framework. This application is part of a larger, accelerated trend. In the final months of 2025 and early 2026, a wave of digital asset companies, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets, secured conditional approvals for national trust bank charters. This allows them to operate across all U.S. states with a single federal regulator, primarily for asset custody and management, but without offering loans or taking on deposits. The surge in applications is driven by a more receptive stance at the OCC under Comptroller Jonathan Gould, who has publicly dismissed concerns that crypto firms deserve extra scrutiny. Gould argues that electronic custody has been a banking service for decades and that there's no reason to treat digital assets differently, a move intended to foster innovation and competition within the financial system. However, the traditional banking sector is pushing back forcefully. Groups like the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America argue that the OCC is creating a "two-tier" banking system. They contend that crypto firms are gaining the credibility of a bank charter without the stringent capital, liquidity, and FDIC insurance requirements that traditional banks must adhere to. A national charter from the OCC does not automatically grant access to the Federal Reserve's payment rails, the core infrastructure for moving money in the U.S. This remains a critical, unresolved issue, though Fed Governor Chris Waller has mentioned exploring a streamlined account structure for these new entities. Traditional banks have strongly opposed expanding Fed access to these firms. The recent approval of a Federal Reserve master account for Kraken Financial in March 2026 has set a significant precedent. This allows Kraken to bypass intermediary banks and connect directly to the Fed's payment systems, reducing counterparty risk and potentially speeding up settlements—a crucial step that all newly chartered crypto trust banks will likely seek to follow.