Blockchain infrastructure provider Zerohash has applied for a U.S. national trust bank charter, taking a step toward becoming a federally regulated payments and custody provider for traditional financial firms. The company said on Wednesday that it submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Feb. 27 to operate a national trust bank, enabling an expansion of stablecoin and custody services for the banks, brokerages and fintechs it serves.
Zerohash said a national trust bank charter from the OCC would let it broaden offerings under a federal framework as rules for stablecoins and digital assets evolve, including activities contemplated under the GENIUS Act. The firm counts partners such as Morgan Stanley, Interactive Brokers, Stripe and Franklin Templeton.
A national trust bank charter authorizes fiduciary activities like trust services, custody and asset safekeeping. Demand for such charters has increased since President Trump signed the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act into law in July. The OCC has recently granted conditional licenses to Crypto.com, Bridge and Stripe and approved charters in December for Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo and Paxos.
Several other firms have either applied or are awaiting OCC decisions: Morgan Stanley (which disclosed its own recent application), Payoneer (filed Feb. 24), World Liberty Financial (the Trump family’s firm, which applied in January to expand its USD1 stablecoin), Laser Digital (applied in January) and Coinbase (awaiting a decision since October). In December, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said new federal banking entrants improve consumer access to products and credit while keeping the banking system competitive and dynamic.