Key Points
- Payward has submitted an application to the OCC for a national trust company charter
- Approval would establish Payward National Trust Company, providing federally overseen digital asset custody services
- This application complements Kraken’s Wyoming SPDI bank charter and Federal Reserve master account access
- The company has allocated more than $2.6 billion toward recent acquisitions, including NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, and Reap Technologies
- Co-CEO Arjun Sethi estimates the company has reached approximately 80% readiness for a public offering by 2027
Payward, which operates as the parent entity of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has submitted a formal application to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) seeking a national trust company charter. The application was made public on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Should the OCC grant approval, this charter would establish Payward National Trust Company (PNTC) as a new entity. The company would deliver federally supervised custody and fiduciary services, primarily focused on digital assets.
The OCC has previously granted comparable charters to Coinbase, Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. Payward would become part of this group upon successful approval of its application.
Co-CEO Arjun Sethi emphasized that the company prioritizes establishing robust infrastructure over speed to market. “A national trust company provides the certainty institutions require,” he stated in the announcement.
Expansion of Current Banking Framework
Payward currently operates under a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter through Kraken Financial, which received regulatory approval in 2020. Kraken Financial achieved a milestone as the first digital asset bank granted a Federal Reserve master account, providing direct connectivity to the U.S. payments infrastructure.
The proposed OCC trust charter would operate in conjunction with the existing Wyoming charter. Payward characterizes this approach as a “multi-charter” framework, encompassing both state-level and federal regulatory oversight.
According to the company’s plan, PNTC would leverage Payward’s current compliance infrastructure and risk management protocols. The initiative targets institutional clients requiring a federally regulated qualified custodian.
The OCC operates under the leadership of Jonathan Gould, appointed during the Trump administration. The agency processed multiple crypto charter applications in December 2025, approving several requests.
Major Acquisitions and Public Market Timeline
Payward has engaged in significant capital deployment through strategic acquisitions. During 2025, the company purchased retail futures platform NinjaTrader in a transaction valued at $1.5 billion.
In April 2026, Payward entered into an agreement to acquire crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial for a sum reaching $550 million. This transaction brought comprehensive CFTC licenses covering brokerage, clearing, and exchange operations under Payward’s umbrella.
Earlier this week, the company revealed a $600 million acquisition of Reap Technologies, a Hong Kong-based payments company. This strategic move positions Kraken to expand into stablecoin-enabled cross-border payments and card infrastructure throughout Asian markets.
Across these three transactions, Payward has allocated over $2.6 billion in total.
Despite this aggressive acquisition strategy, plans for a Kraken public offering continue to advance. Sethi indicated in May that the organization has achieved roughly 80% of the preparation required to pursue an IPO by 2027.
Kraken has also revealed a strategic partnership with MoneyGram as part of its comprehensive payments expansion strategy.
The OCC application has entered the review process. The regulatory agency has yet to provide a timeline for reaching a determination.
