Modern Treasury seeks US trust bank charter for digital asset custody

Payments infrastructure company Modern Treasury has applied to establish a US national trust bank that would provide digital asset custody and related fiat services.

According to Monday’s announcement, the company submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Modern Treasury National Trust Bank, which would operate as a federally regulated, limited-purpose national trust bank.

If approved, the bank would allow Modern Treasury customers to custody and move stablecoins and fiat through an integrated service, but would not issue stablecoins or make loans.

“We believe stablecoins are foundational economic infrastructure for the future,” Modern Treasury co-founder and CEO Matt Marcus said, adding that the company has fully integrated stablecoins into its payments platform.

Modern Treasury said the proposed bank would operate separately from its existing payments business, which has facilitated more than $600 billion in payments across hundreds of organizations.

The application comes amid a broader push by crypto and payments companies for national trust bank charters. Bastion and Ripple have received conditional approvals, while Circle and BitGo have received final approvals. Kraken parent Payward, Zerohash and Block have also submitted applications.