Two cryptocurrency companies, Paxos and BitPay, have recently filed applications with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, seeking a national bank trust charter.
Wednesday’s filing showed that Paxos wants its bank to operate out of New York, where the company is now based. It already holds a New York trust charter, along with several other crucial US licenses.
The company issues stablecoins and offers several other crypto-related services, including custody and brokerage. Most recently, Paypal tapped Paxos’ services in launching its crypto buying and selling services in the US.
“If granted this national charter, Paxos will become the first custodian of digital assets to be regulated at both the state and federal levels,” Dan Burstein, Paxos’ Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel stated in a blog post.
“Our mission is to modernize financial market infrastructure and enable the movement of any asset, any time, in a trustworthy way. A national Trust Bank charter would help us realize our goal by enabling us to serve customers across the country in the most efficient way.”
Bank Rush
On the other hand, BitPay facilitates cryptocurrency payments and is a well-known name in the industry. Details of its move for a federal banking charter were published in Wednesday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The company is willing to form BitPay National Trust Bank based out of Alpharetta, Georgia. The application detailed that the bank would receive around $12 million in total capitalization with 120 million issued shares.
Both applications will now see a 30-day comment period before they can proceed further. It is to be noted that, if approved, both companies can bypass the state laws by becoming a national bank.
The applications came when other established crypto companies are also pushing to gain the status of banks. While custodian, Anchorage applied for a similar license last month, exchange giant, Kraken became the first cryptocurrency bank in Wyoming.
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