Crypto.com Is One Step From Becoming A US National Trust Bank

On February 23rd, 2026, Crypto.com has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a U.S. National Trust Bank focused on digital asset custody and fiduciary services. According to Research and Market, institutional capital in digital asset custody topped $800 billion last year, and the infrastructure race to capture it just shifted.

For investors, and builders across the ecosystem, this is a signal worth paying attention to.

What a National Trust Charter Gives Crypto.com

Custody is the single most critical infrastructure layer for institutional adoption of digital assets. Pension funds, endowments, and asset managers require regulated custodians to meet governance and compliance standards. Many have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for exactly this kind of federal framework before committing capital.

A national trust bank charter gives Crypto.com federal oversight, eliminates the friction of state by state licensing, and creates one regulatory framework for serving clients accessing multiple jurisdictions. It also opens the door to digital asset settlement, supervised staking support, and structured custody offerings built for institutional portfolios.

The competitive pressure is immediate. Coinbase Custody, BitGo, and Fireworks now face a rival with a federal banking credential, and the race to match that standing could trigger a wave of charter applications across the industry.

What’s Next For Crypto.com

Conditional approval initiates one of the most demanding phases any crypto company can face. To receive the final authorization, Crypto.com must satisfy OCC requirements around capital adequacy, governance, risk management, anti-money laundering controls, and operational resilience. Federal banking supervision means ongoing examinations with no off switch.

Anchorage Digital’s journey illustrates both the difficulty and the reward. Anchorage became the first federally chartered crypto focused bank and later received a consent order tied to compliance gaps. After much investment in compliance infrastructure, Anchorage resolved that consent order. The company has now proven that crypto and federal oversight can work in tandem. The outcome is the roadmap Crypto.com will need to follow.

Crypto.com And The DeFi Bridge

And here is where it gets interesting for the digital asset community. A federally supervised custody platform that supports staking creates a regulated on-ramp for institutional capital to participate in onchain yield for a massive unlock.

If Crypto.com can offer institutions compliant access to staking rewards, liquid staking derivatives, or structured DeFi exposure through a federally chartered entity, the addressable market for onchain protocols expands dramatically. Regulated gateways bring institutional liquidity to DeFi and that liquidity has the potential to accelerate protocol adoption at a scale the ecosystem has been building toward for years.

Crypto.com Is Part Of A Wave That Has Become A Movement

Crypto.com is the latest in a rapidly growing group of digital asset firms securing federal charters. In December 2025, the OCC conditionally approved five national trust bank charts for Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity and Paxos. Stripe’s stablecoin subsidiary Bridge received conditional approval last week. Coinbase and World Liberty Financial have also filed applications.

Two regulatory catalysts drove this wave. In May 2025, the OCC affirmed that national banks can hold crypto assets for customers. In July, the signing of the GENIUS Act established a federal framework for stablecoin issuance and trading. Together, these developments created the clearest regulatory pathway the industry has seen for integrating digital assets into the banking system.

The momentum has not gone unnoticed by traditional finance. The American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute have urged the OCC to slow its charter approvals and increase transparency, arguing that the requirements may not be appropriately tailored to the risks involved. The tension between crypto firms pushing forward and traditional banks pushing back will shape the regulatory landscape for years to come.

Crypto.com And What to Watch Next

Crypto.com now faces three tests that will determine whether this charter delivers on its promise. First, execution: meeting OCC standards on capital, governance, and AML controls within the conditional timeline. Second, regulatory clarity: whether policymakers establish consistent frameworks for digital asset trust banks or leave critical questions unresolved.

Third, competitive response: with nearly a dozen firms now pursuing or holding federal charters, the entire custody landscape is being reshaped. The companies that solve custody at bank-level standards will define the next era of institutional digital assets. This charter puts Crypto.com in position to be one of them.