Modern Treasury Seeks U.S. Bank Charter for Stablecoin Custody

Modern Treasury has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a U.S. national trust bank, aiming to provide custody for digital assets like stablecoins and offer fiat-currency services. If approved, the bank will operate as a federally regulated limited-purpose national trust bank, allowing customers to custody and transfer stablecoins and fiat currencies through a single integrated service. Notably, the bank will not issue stablecoins directly or engage in lending.

Matt Marcus, co-founder and CEO of Modern Treasury, emphasized the company's belief in stablecoins as core infrastructure for the future economy. He highlighted that stablecoins are already fully integrated into Modern Treasury's existing payments platform. The new bank will function separately from the company's current payments business, which has processed over $600 billion in payments for hundreds of institutions.

The move comes as several crypto and payments companies in the U.S. pursue national trust bank charters. Companies like Bastion and Ripple have received conditional approval, while Circle and BitGo have secured final approval. Kraken parent Payward, Zero Hash, and Block have also applied for related charters.