EDX Markets Holding Company has officially submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for approval to establish EDX Trust, National Association as a national trust bank in Chicago. The application, made public on April 1, 2026, seeks full fiduciary powers under 12 U.S.C. § 92a and authorization to provide digital asset custody, asset management, and settlement services exclusively to institutional clients.
A Stellar Lineup of Backers
EDX Markets launched in June 2023 as a cryptocurrency exchange exclusively for institutional investors. Its founding investors include some of the most prominent names in traditional finance and crypto, such as Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab, Virtu Financial, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Hudson River Trading, and Miami International Holdings. The platform operates under a non-custodial model, meaning it does not hold client assets during trading, a structure that mirrors how traditional financial institutions separate custody from execution.
Clear Division of Roles
The proposed EDX Trust would not alter that separation. It will focus exclusively on digital asset custody, asset management, and settlement, while order matching and execution remain with its affiliate, EDX Markets LLC. Specifically, the trust bank would offer fiduciary custody of digital assets, cash, and stablecoins, using sub-custodian banks to manage private keys and reduce single points of failure. It would also manage deposited cash and stablecoins by investing them in highly liquid assets, targeting returns near the federal funds rate, along with permitted staking and yield-generating activities.
On the settlement front, EDX Trust would provide risk-free proprietary trading and end-of-day net settlement for clients active on the EDX Markets platform or over-the-counter (OTC) trading venues. The bank would not engage in proprietary trading for its own account.
Experienced Leadership and Board
CEO José Antonio Acuña-Rohter, who previously led ErisX and Cboe Digital, oversees the project. The proposed board of directors comprises five members, including independent directors with backgrounds in banking and risk management at First Business Financial, UBS, and Charles Schwab. The management team includes executives from Cboe Digital, the Options Clearing Corporation, Coinbase, and Kraken.
The bank will have no physical branches and no retail operations; all activities will be conducted electronically via APIs and a graphical interface.
OCC Approval Landscape and Industry Context
The OCC added the application to its public list of pending digital asset charter applications on March 26, 2026, but has not yet announced a decision timeline. The filing comes amid a broader push by the OCC to accelerate approvals for crypto-related national trust banks. In December 2025, the OCC granted conditional approvals to five crypto-related institutions, including new charters for Ripple National Trust Bank and First National Digital Currency Bank, as well as conversions for Bitgo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. Early 2026 saw additional approvals for Crypto.com and Stripe's Bridge division.
Pending applications as of April 1 include Revolut Bank US, Zerohash National Trust Bank, Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, Coinbase National Trust Company, and World Liberty Trust Company, which is linked to the Trump family.
New Regulation Removes Legal Ambiguity
A new final rule issued by the OCC, effective April 1, 2026, clarifies that national trust banks may engage in trust company activities and non-fiduciary digital asset custody on a case-by-case basis. The rule eliminates a layer of legal uncertainty that had hindered institutional adoption. A federal charter allows a firm to operate nationwide under a single regulatory framework, bypassing most state-level licensing requirements. For institutions that require regulated custody before allocating to digital assets, this distinction is critical.
The OCC will evaluate the EDX Trust application on the basis of safety and soundness, capital adequacy, and compliance. The application includes extensive confidential exhibits, such as the business plan and financial projections, for which EDX has requested FOIA protection. Industry observers believe that if approved, EDX Trust will further accelerate the institutional adoption of crypto assets, solidifying EDX Markets' position as a leading infrastructure provider for Wall Street's crypto ambitions.