Paxos Makes Bold Move: Files for U.S. Trust Bank Charter with OCC in 2025 Power Play
Crypto's quiet giant just called Wall Street's bluff.
Paxos—the blockchain infrastructure firm that's been silently powering stablecoins for giants like PayPal—just dropped a regulatory grenade in Washington. The company filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a federal trust bank charter, a move that could rewrite the rules of crypto custody.
The backroom chess move
While traditional banks debate whether to touch crypto with a 10-foot pole, Paxos is cutting through the red tape with surgical precision. A trust charter would let them operate nationally without begging state regulators for permission slips—Wall Street's favorite regulatory arbitrage trick, now deployed by crypto natives.
Why the OCC matters
The same regulator that blessed Anchorage Digital's crypto custody charter in 2021 now faces a more ambitious bid. Paxos isn't just asking to safeguard assets—it's building the plumbing for tokenized everything, from stocks to real estate. The timing? Impeccable, as SEC Chair Gary Gensler keeps insisting 'everything's a security' except his morning coffee.
One banking exec's reaction: 'First they eat our lunch, now they want our charter? Cute.' Meanwhile, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla's probably too busy counting institutional clients to care about the old guard's tantrums.
Circle, Ripple also eye banking licenses
Paxos became the first blockchain firm to obtain a limited trust charter from NYDFS in 2015. The company first filed for a national bank license in 2020, and regulators gave preliminary conditional approval in 2021. However, the application hit a snag and expired in 2023.
Commenting further on the fresh application, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla, said:
“This is rooted in our belief in the transformative power of blockchain as a force for financial freedom. OCC oversight will help build on our historic commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety and transparency.”
OCC oversight will add to regulatory milestones across Europe and Asia with the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The MOVE also sees Paxos join other top digital asset platforms and companies eyeing banking licenses in the United States.
Circle, the publicly-traded stablecoin issuer of USDC (USDC) and Ripple, the company behind the XRP (XRP) cryptocurrency and Ripple USD stablecoin, recently filed for national trust bank charters. At the moment, Anchorage Digital is the only U.S.-based digital asset platform with a national trust bank charter.
