Crypto.com Edges Toward Federal Bank Charter With OCC Nod
What exactly did the OCC approve?
Crypto.com has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form Foris Dax National Trust Bank, which will operate as Crypto.com National Trust Bank once the process is complete. The company filed its application in October 2025. The green light is not final, but it moves the firm a significant step closer to operating under direct federal supervision.
If fully approved, the entity would function as a national trust bank. That structure would allow Crypto.com to provide custody, staking across multiple blockchains—including Cronos—and trade settlement services within a federally regulated framework.
Why is a national trust charter a big deal?
For large institutions, custody is the bottleneck. Many asset managers are restricted to working with qualified custodians that meet strict regulatory standards. An OCC-regulated national trust bank carries more institutional weight than most state-level licenses commonly used in crypto.
The move signals that Crypto.com wants to compete at the infrastructure level, not just as a trading venue. A federally supervised trust bank would give it a stronger footing with RIAs, hedge funds and corporates that require regulatory clarity before allocating capital.
Investor Takeaway
How does this fit into Crypto.com’s broader expansion?
The OCC milestone comes alongside other regulatory gains, including a recently secured MiFID license in Europe. Taken together, the strategy points to geographic diversification under recognized regulatory regimes rather than relying on offshore hubs.
Crypto.com already operates Crypto.com Custody Trust Company under the New Hampshire Banking Department as a non-depository trust company. That operation continues unchanged. The national trust bank would sit alongside it, potentially consolidating higher-tier institutional services under federal oversight.
In practical terms, the conditional status means additional compliance, governance and capital requirements must still be satisfied before launch. Federal banking regulators rarely fast-track final approvals without rigorous review.
What happens next?
The next phase involves meeting the OCC’s conditions and completing the charter process. Only then can Crypto.com National Trust Bank begin operating as a federally regulated entity.
If successful, Crypto.com would join a limited group of crypto-native firms with national banking-level supervision. In a U.S. market where regulatory clarity has been uneven, that positioning could become a competitive advantage—particularly as traditional financial institutions deepen their exposure to digital assets.
Investor Takeaway
For now, the approval is conditional. But strategically, it signals that Crypto.com is investing in the regulatory architecture required to serve institutions at scale, not just retail traders.
