Paxos, a stablecoin and tokenization company, has submitted an application for a national trust charter with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC). This move could elevate its current New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) charter to enable broader operations across the United States.

According to Paxos, obtaining this national designation would offer the company enhanced growth opportunities and operational efficiency while adhering to stringent oversight from the OCC. The approval would place Paxos under federal supervision, aligning with the federal level stablecoin legislation recently passed in the US, such as the GENIUS Act.

This application by Paxos follows similar moves by other stablecoin companies like Circle and Ripple, which have also applied for national trust charters post-regulatory clarifications. The OCC has announced that national banks can manage, buy, and sell crypto assets under their custody, marking a significant step forward in the regulatory landscape.

Paxos’ Expansion Across the United States

Representatives of Paxos emphasize their company’s commitment to enhancing its services for financial institutions. They believe that a national charter would better enable them to offer personalized products and support customers’ goals. Based in New York, Paxos issues stablecoins such as PYUSD and PAXG and serves clients including Mastercard, Interactive Brokers, and MercadoLibre through its tokenization, custody, and trading services.

Notably, just a week before applying for the national trust charter, Paxos agreed to pay a USD 48.5 million settlement over accusations from New York’s financial regulator regarding its failure to prevent illegal activities linked to Binance. The regulator mandated that Paxos review Binance’s transaction exposure and fined it USD 26.5 million while requiring an additional USD 22 million for compliance enhancements.