Kraken's Parent Payward Files for OCC National Trust Charter, Chasing Coinbase and Ripple!

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust company charter — seeking to establish the Payward National Trust Company (PNTC). The move follows conditional OCC approvals already granted to Coinbase roughly a month ago and to Ripple, signalling a clear industry pattern of major crypto firms pursuing bank-level regulatory standing.

PNTC is designed to serve both institutional clients and individual customers, offering regulated custody and trust services for digital assets built on Payward's existing compliance infrastructure and regulated affiliates. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi framed the push as a long-held conviction: "The right path forward for digital assets runs through robust, transparent regulation. A national trust company provides the certainty institutions require."

The wave of OCC applications…