Paxos joins Ripple and Circle in pursuit of seeking national bank charter licenses

Stablecoin issuer Paxos said it has applied for a national trust charter, marking the third crypto firm over the past few months looking to benefit from oversight at the federal level.

The firm, which issues PayPal USD and Pax Dollar, said it was looking to convert its New York Department of Financial Services trust charter into a national one under the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

"By applying for a national trust bank charter, we are continuing to offer enterprise partners and consumers the safest, most trusted infrastructure available," said Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder of Paxos, on Monday in a statement. "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."

Over the past few months, Ripple and Circle have also applied for banking licenses with the OCC, following a friendly regulatory environment for crypto under the Trump administration. Paxos' application also follows President Donald Trump's signing of the GENIUS Act, a bill that creates a regulatory framework for stablecoins.

Paxos said a national trust charter "will reinforce Paxos's commitment to maintaining the highest global standards for safety and transparency."

Last week, Paxos settled with NYDFS after the state's financial regulator found it failed to conduct enough due diligence when it partnered with Binance on the BUSD stablecoin. The regulator also cited shortcomings in Paxos' anti-money laundering program.

Paxos said the issues were found years ago and have been remedied.