Rain Seeks OCC Trust Bank Charter for Stablecoin Services

Stablecoin payments firm Rain has applied to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter for a proposed New York subsidiary, Rain National Trust Bank. The Rain OCC trust bank would custody digital assets and US dollars, manage reserves for approved stablecoin issuers, and issue and redeem dollar-backed tokens for institutional clients. If approved, it could reduce Rain’s reliance on third-party banks for custody and stablecoin operations. The proposed bank would not accept deposits, make commercial loans or offer consumer accounts, and its balances would not be FDIC-insured. Rain says client assets would be kept separate from the bank’s own holdings. The application remains subject to OCC review and public comment. Rain has nominated former Square Financial Services CFO Brandon Soto as president and chief executive. The application follows Circle’s final OCC approval in July, after initial approvals for Circle, Ripple, BitGo and Fidelity in December. The OCC has approved or conditionally approved at least 21 national trust banks, including at least 13 linked to the crypto sector. The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC over its authority to grant charters to crypto firms that do not provide traditional banking services. The Rain OCC application is therefore a regulatory and infrastructure development, not an immediate trading catalyst; the lawsuit could complicate or delay approval and affect how US crypto firms custody assets and manage stablecoin reserves.