Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has filed for a national trust company charter with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to a Friday announcement shared with CoinDesk, as the company looks to expand its regulated digital-asset custody business.
If approved, the charter would establish the Payward National Trust Company (PNTC), a federally regulated entity focused on fiduciary custody and related services for digital assets. Kraken said the trust will primarily serve institutions and clients seeking bank-level depository protection under OCC supervision.
The filing marks Payward’s latest effort to expand its US regulatory footprint as crypto firms increasingly pursue traditional financial charters to attract institutional clients and navigate a changing regulatory environment.
“A national trust company provides the security institutions require and establishes the infrastructure to build the next generation of depository,” Payward and Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the statement.
The move comes as crypto firms increasingly seek federal charters, licenses and bank approvals under the Trump administration’s more industry-friendly approach to regulating digital assets.
Kraken’s broader expansion strategy has included a series of acquisitions aimed at building regulated trading and payments infrastructure ahead of a potential IPO.
In addition to its $1.5 billion acquisition of retail futures platform NinjaTrader in 2025, Payward in April agreed to acquire crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial for up to $550 million, adding a full suite of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) licenses covering brokerage, clearing and exchange operations.
This week, the company also struck a $600 million deal to buy Hong Kong-based payments firm Reap Technologies, expanding Kraken’s efforts into stablecoin-powered cross-border payments and card infrastructure in Asia
The proposed trust company would complement Kraken Financial, the Wyoming special purpose depository institution (SPDI), chartered in 2020. Kraken Financial became the first digital-asset bank to secure a Federal Reserve master account, giving it direct access to the US payment system.
Payward framed the OCC application as part of a broader “multi-charter” strategy aimed at offering different types of regulated financial services under both state and federal oversight.
Under the proposal, PNTC will rely on Payward’s existing compliance, risk management and custodian infrastructure while expanding access to customers who require a federally regulated qualified custodian.
Crypto firms have increasingly explored bank and trust charters as regulators clarify the rules around custody and institutional participation in digital assets. National trust charters, overseen by the OCC, have previously been pursued by crypto-native firms seeking broader legitimacy and nationwide operations without relying solely on state-by-state licensing.
Sethi said the company’s Wyoming SPDI and potential OCC trust charters would serve as “complementary pillars” of Payward’s banking strategy as the US digital asset regulatory framework continues to evolve.
Read more: Kraken Parent Company Payward Closes $550 Million Bitnomial Deal, Secures Full CFTC Derivative Stack
