Payward, the corporate parent of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) seeking authorization to operate as a National Trust Company. This federal charter would allow Payward to establish regulated custody services under OCC supervision, aimed at meeting the growing demand from institutional clients needing qualified custodians for digital assets.
If approved, Payward plans to create the Payward National Trust Company (PNTC) to offer custody and trust-related services to both institutional investors and retail customers. The company intends to leverage its existing infrastructure, including its risk management and compliance frameworks, alongside regulated affiliates, to deliver these services securely and in compliance with federal regulations.
Payward’s Co-CEO highlighted the company’s commitment to fostering stronger regulations for digital assets to support responsible growth. He framed the national trust company model as a regulatory certainty sought by institutions, helping to build the infrastructure necessary for the next phase of custody solutions. The application aligns with Payward’s wider banking ambitions, complementing efforts with Kraken Financial and the company’s Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI), which maintains a Federal Reserve master account. Adding a national trust charter would expand Payward’s capacity to serve clients with a more comprehensive suite of regulated financial products.
The OCC has previously granted conditional national trust bank charters to several crypto firms, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, and most recently Coinbase. This trend illustrates the agency’s evolving approach to regulating crypto custody at a federal level, allowing these companies to provide trust services under a standardized regulatory framework.
However, this regulatory expansion has faced resistance. Traditional banking groups and lobbyists have criticized the OCC’s broader interpretation of the national trust bank charter, arguing that it deviates from the charter’s historical role and risks stretching the regulatory boundaries. Despite these objections, the OCC continues to greenlight crypto trust charters, signaling a continued effort to integrate digital asset services within established federal banking frameworks.