Crypto.com said it received conditional approval for a national trust bank charter in the US, paving the way for the digital-asset exchange to offer its crypto services as a federally regulated institution.
The crypto platform said in a statement Monday that it was reviewed by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which awards national bank charters. The US agency didn’t respond to several requests seeking confirmation. Crypto.com said it plans to use the charter to offer services like staking and trade settlement.
Crypto.com would be joining a string of digital-asset firms, from Circle Internet Group Inc. to Paxos that have received conditional approvals for coveted US bank charters in past months.
Becoming trust banks does not allow the firms to act as traditional Main Street institutions, but they can hold assets in custody the way firms like Bank of New York Mellon Corp. or State Street Corp. can.
“This conditional approval is the latest testament to both our commitment to compliance and to providing customers trusted and secure services they expect from Crypto.com,” Chief Executive Officer Kris Marszalek said in a statement on Monday.
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Crypto.com is already regulated on the state level by the New Hampshire Banking Department as a non-depository trust company. The conditional federal approval does not impact the state trust’s existing operations, according to the company’s statement. The national trust bank is called Foris Dax National Trust Bank, and will operate under the name Crypto.com National Trust Bank.
Crypto.com and its executives have maintained close ties to US President Donald Trump and his business empire. The exchange has partnered with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. on several ventures, including a number of crypto-tied exchange-traded funds, Truth Social’s expansion into prediction markets and a digital-asset treasury company.
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Marszalek was among the first crypto executives to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago after he won the 2024 presidential election. The company later donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee, and has made eight-figure contributions to MAGA Inc., a conservative political action committee. The exchange donated another $5 million to MAGA Inc. in January, a filing last week showed.
