Payward dey find OCC national trust charter for regulated crypto custody

Kraken parent company Payward don submit one application to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to create Payward National Trust Company (PNTC). The plan na be to expand federally regulated digital-asset custody for institutional clients under OCC custody framework and to get qualified-custodian status—no depositing or lending involved. Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi talk say this move dey complement Kraken Financial, wey already get Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter and Federal Reserve master account, so dem get direct access to Fed payment systems. The filing land for the middle of bigger OCC charter push. Coinbase collect conditional OCC approval earlier this year, and other companies don also get or dey pursue approvals. This one matter to traders because OCC bank charter and OCC custody credentials fit boost institutional confidence for compliance and fit fast-track regulated settlement and custody flows. But e still be application stage. OCC reviews fit slow and unpredictable, and to build custody infrastructure na capital intensive. If more applicants get conditional approvals, competition for institutional custody clients likely go shift to service quality, technology, and supported assets rather than regulation alone. Separately, Kraken dey expand aggressively with planned $600 million acquisition of stablecoin firm Reap Technologies and $550 million buy of derivatives venue Bitnomial. Kraken also file confidentially for a U.S. IPO after e raise $800 million at reported $20 billion valuation.