TLDR
Payward, the parent of Kraken, has applied to the US OCC for a national trust company charter to operate a federally regulated digital asset custody bank.
- Payward wants to create Payward National Trust Company as an OCC?supervised trust bank focusing on crypto custody for institutional and some retail clients.
- The charter would make Payward a qualified custodian, extend its reach beyond Wyomings SPDI regime, and strengthen Krakens broader regulated banking and IPO strategy.
- Approval is not guaranteed; watch the OCC review, politics around crypto bank charters, and how rivals like Coinbase and Ripple progress with their own trust charters.
Deep Dive
1. What Payward Is Applying For
Payward has filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Payward National Trust Company, a federally regulated national trust bank focused on digital asset custody and fiduciary services for crypto. Reports describe it as a bank?level custody platform aimed primarily at institutions, with some services for individuals who want regulated storage of digital assets under OCC oversight.
As a national trust company, it would be supervised by a single federal regulator instead of relying on a patchwork of state money?transmitter and trust licenses, giving it legal authority to serve clients across all 50 states if approved. This structure is similar to the trust charters pursued or obtained by firms such as Coinbase, Ripple, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos, which are highlighted in recent coverage of Paywards filing.
Payward is trying to move Krakens custody business into the same regulatory bucket as traditional trust banks, not operate as an unregulated crypto custodian.
2. Why This Matters For Institutions And Kraken
A national trust charter would position Payward as a federally regulated qualified custodian, a status many asset managers, pension funds, and other institutions require before they can hold crypto through a third party. That could materially expand the pool of clients who can use Kraken?linked custody while satisfying internal compliance rules.
The OCC application builds on Kraken Financial, Paywards Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution, which already has a Federal Reserve master account and direct access to US payment rails. Payward describes the Wyoming SPDI and the proposed national trust bank as complementary pillars of a multi?charter strategy that combines state banking powers with a single federal trust license.
This push sits alongside heavy investment in infrastructure and payments, including acquisitions of derivatives venue Bitnomial and stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies, and preparation for a potential IPO around 2027 as reported in recent analyses.
If Payward secures the charter, Krakens ecosystem could look more like a regulated banking group that happens to specialize in digital assets.
3. Regulatory Risks And What To Watch Next
The OCC has become more open to crypto?related national trust charters, but approvals remain selective and politically sensitive. Banking trade groups have criticized the use of national trust charters for crypto firms, arguing that the OCC is stretching banking law and may be easing access to the federal system for stablecoin and custody players.
Anchorage Digital is currently the main crypto?native firm operating as a fully approved national trust bank, while other applicants are still under review. Payward has not disclosed an expected timeline, capitalization details, or staffing for Payward National Trust Company, and the OCC could attach stringent conditions or delay a decision.
For crypto users and institutions, key signals will be: whether the OCC grants conditional or full approval, how strict the conditions are (capital, risk controls, stablecoin limits), and whether this accelerates or slows similar applications from Coinbase, Ripple and others.
The outcome will signal how far US bank regulators are willing to integrate crypto custody into the core banking system, which could shape where large institutional flows choose to park their digital assets.
Conclusion
Paywards OCC application is a bid to move Krakens ecosystem from regulated exchange toward crypto?focused banking group, with bank?level digital asset custody at its core. If the OCC approves the national trust charter on reasonable terms, it could unlock more institutional flows into crypto under familiar banking rules, but pushback from traditional banking lobbies and politics around federal charters mean the path is uncertain and worth monitoring closely.
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