Crypto.com seeks OCC federal charter, joining Coinbase, Ripple, and others

Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com said on Friday it applied for a national trust bank charter through the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a major federal banking regulator, following in the footsteps of similar established crypto firms. 

The exchange is seeking the license to "advance its industry-leading custody technology and related customer offerings, including custody and staking of assets across various blockchains and digital asset protocols, including Cronos," according to a statement. Cronos is a Layer 1 blockchain backed by Crypto.com that, last month,sold tokens worth about $178 million to Truth Social owner Trump Media. 

The exchange is the latest major crypto firm to pursue an OCC charter, joining Coinbase, Stripe-owned Bridge, Paxos, Ripple, Circle, and BitGo. The firm is hoping the license will "further position Crypto.com as the custody service destination of choice, particularly for Digital Asset Treasuries, Exchange Traded Funds, and other corporate and institutional investors." 

Crypto.com, in recent months, has processed more volume than chief rival Coinbase, The Block's data shows, with $83.9 billion compared to Coinbase's $78.9 billion in September. Crypto.com also has the edge so far in October, with $94.3 billion in volume compared to Coinbase's $80.5 billion. 

The OCC, now led by former Bitfury chief legal officer Jonathan Gould, recently granted a preliminary conditional approval to Erebor Bank, backed by venture capitalist Peter Thiel. (Erebor's name, like Thiel's Palantir, comes from The Lord of the Rings.) Gould called the decision "proof that the OCC under my leadership does not impose blanket barriers to banks that want to engage in digital asset activities," in a statement at the time.