Ramp seeks OCC trust charter for digital asset custody

Ramp has asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter that would let a new entity, Ramp National Trust Bank, hold digital assets for clients, according to Forexcrunch. The New York fintech, valued at $60 billion in its latest funding round, filed the application with a date of Oct. 16, 2026.

Crypto.news reported that Ramp announced the filing on Oct. 19, describing the proposed bank as offering fiduciary investment management and custody of digital assets. Ramp said the institution “will not take deposits or make commercial loans” and framed the charter as a route to “a consistent federal regulatory framework.”

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Key facts

• The application seeks a charter for Ramp National Trust Bank, dated Oct. 16, 2026, per Forexcrunch; Ramp confirmed the submission in its Oct. 19 announcement, Crypto.news reported.
• Ramp said the proposed bank would handle fiduciary investment management and digital asset custody but would not accept deposits or issue commercial loans.
• Ramp holds more than $5 billion in customer balances across its checking and investment accounts as of Oct. 20, which the company calls assets under management and administration, according to Crypto.news.
• The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC in federal court in Washington on Oct. 2 over its crypto trust charters.
• Ramp has not announced a decision date or a launch timetable, and the OCC register reviewed on Oct. 20 did not list a Ramp filing document or comment deadline, Crypto.news reported.

A charter sought while the category is in court

The ICBA’s lawsuit, filed Oct. 2, challenges the narrowly scoped charters the regulator has issued to crypto firms. Its chief executive, Rebeca Romero Rainey, argued that Congress never intended the charter to serve as “a side door into the banking system for crypto firms,” Forexcrunch reported. Crypto.news adds that the complaint targets the OCC’s 2026 chartering rule and Interpretive Letter No. 1176, which the association says let institutions operate under national trust charters without meeting the same requirements as conventional banks.

The OCC has defended its position. In its March 2026 rule, it said national trust banks have historically been allowed to conduct certain non-fiduciary activities, including custody and safekeeping, and that the rule clarified existing authority rather than creating new powers. Crypto.news reported that the OCC declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing an Oct. 2 Reuters report. The suit names neither Ramp nor its application, but a contested framework means an approval for Ramp National Trust Bank could face legal challenge even if the regulator grants it.

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The application date itself is one point where the accounts differ. Forexcrunch notes that the Oct. 16 date is press-reported and that the OCC has not confirmed it; no review timeline has been disclosed. Crypto.news, citing Ramp’s Oct. 19 announcement, treats Oct. 16 as the submission date.

Ramp joins a queue of crypto charter applicants

Forexcrunch reported that Bridge, owned by Stripe, received conditional OCC sign-off in February to run a national trust bank holding digital assets and managing stablecoins, and that Circle won final approval in July for First National Digital Currency Bank. The regulator rejected Wise’s trust bank bid the same month over compliance and money laundering concerns, while Revolut secured conditional approval in September for a full national bank charter that still requires sign-off from the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. Klaros Group counted more than 30 applicants for US bank licences during 2025, including Interactive Brokers and PayPal.

Crypto.news lists a separate set of pending filings on the OCC’s register: Rain National Trust Bank, applied for Oct. 5; Payward National Trust Company, filed May 8; and Zerohash National Trust Bank, resubmitted Aug. 19 after the OCC returned its initial filing in July. The OCC has previously issued conditional approvals to Ripple, BitGo, Paxos and Fidelity Digital Assets.

For Ramp, the charter would move fiduciary custody in-house. The company currently holds checking deposits at First Internet Bank of Indiana and runs its investment account through Ramp Advisory LLC, with portfolios managed by Moment Advisors and brokerage execution and custody handled by Apex Clearing. Crypto.news reported that the Oct. 19 announcement did not identify changes to those partners, and that Ramp has not said which digital assets it would support or whether custody would be limited to existing business customers.

Why it matters

A national trust charter lets a firm handle custody and fiduciary services without the deposit-taking and lending that trigger full bank regulation, giving fintechs a federal footing they lack when products are spread across partner banks and brokers. Ramp’s filing lands while community bankers are trying to close that route in court, so the outcome will shape how quickly payments and crypto firms can fold digital asset custody into their own regulated entities. The dispute is about how far the OCC’s chartering authority reaches, not about Ramp specifically.

What to watch

Watch the OCC’s public application register for a Ramp-specific filing and a public comment deadline, which Crypto.news noted had not appeared as of Oct. 20. The next signal from the litigation is how the court handling the ICBA’s challenge treats the 2026 rule and Interpretive Letter No. 1176.

Written by

Emily Torres

Emily Torres covers cryptocurrency and decentralized finance for StockPil, tracking blockchain markets and regulatory developments.

Sources: ForexCrunch, Crypto.news