Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust company charter, aiming to expand federally regulated custody services for digital assets. The proposed Payward National Trust Company would provide fiduciary custody and related services primarily for digital assets, serving both institutional clients and individual customers requiring bank-level custody under federal oversight.
Building on Wyoming SPDI Foundation
Payward already operates Kraken Financial, a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) that made history as the first digital asset bank to hold a Federal Reserve master account. The new national trust charter application builds directly on this regulatory groundwork, positioning Payward to bridge state and federal banking frameworks.
Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated: “A national trust company provides the certainty institutions require and establishes the infrastructure to build the next generation of custody.” He added that the combination of the Wyoming SPDI and a federal trust charter creates a “unique foundation” to serve clients under the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape.
If approved, the Payward National Trust Company would become a federally regulated qualified custodian—a designation many institutional investors demand before allocating capital to digital assets through third-party platforms. This status is increasingly sought after by asset managers, pension funds, and corporations seeking regulated access to digital assets.
Multi-Charter Strategy: Complementary not Competitive
The Wyoming SPDI and national trust company are designed for different client needs and regulatory contexts. Payward positions them as complementary pieces of the same regulated banking strategy. A federal OCC charter would allow Payward to serve clients across all 50 states without navigating a patchwork of state licensing requirements.
Institutional demand for qualified custody has surged as more asset managers, pension funds, and corporations seek regulated digital asset exposure. The national trust charter would enable Payward to meet this demand with a unified federal framework.
Payward’s Unified Financial Infrastructure
Payward describes itself as a unified financial infrastructure platform built on a single shared architecture. Beyond Kraken, its product portfolio includes Ninjatrader, Breakout, xStocks, Bitnomial, and CF Benchmarks. The company separates infrastructure from product delivery, with each product designed for a specific customer segment and regulatory context while drawing on shared systems for liquidity, risk management, collateral, and settlement.
The OCC application was filed from Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Kraken Financial is also headquartered. No timeline for OCC review or approval has been disclosed. Payward has not yet disclosed the projected capitalization or staffing structure for Payward National Trust Company ahead of the OCC review.
Federal regulators have increased engagement with digital asset firms over the past two years. The OCC has previously granted conditional charters to crypto-focused companies, but a national trust charter represents a more expansive category of federal authorization. Payward’s application marks a significant step in the evolution of regulated digital asset custody in the United States.