Kraken Parent Payward Seeks US Federal Trust Charter

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has filed an application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust company charter, according to a press release from the firm today, May 8.

If approved, the entity — Payward National Trust Company (PNTC) — would offer federally regulated custody and other services, mainly for digital assets.

“PNTC expects to serve institutional clients and individual customers seeking regulated, bank-level custody and trust services for digital assets,” the release notes.

Payward says the move would complement its existing banking arm, Kraken Financial, which is a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution and recently received a limited purpose Federal Reserve master account.

Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the “addition of a national trust company expands what we can offer our clients under an evolving U.S. regulatory framework.”

Just yesterday, the company announced that it has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies for up to $600 million in cash and stock, adding card issuance, cross-border payments, and stablecoin treasury services to its B2B platform.

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