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Modern Treasury filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Oct. 5, 2026, to create Modern Treasury National Trust Bank, a limited-purpose national trust bank that would custody digital assets and provide related fiat services, according to Cointelegraph. The San Francisco payments infrastructure company said the proposed entity would hold stablecoins and fiat for customers through an integrated service.
The filing sets clear boundaries. The trust bank would not issue stablecoins and would not make loans, and it would be kept separate from Modern Treasury’s existing payments service provider business. Cointelegraph reported that the current payments operation has facilitated more than $600 billion in payments across hundreds of organizations.
Also read: New Hampshire rejects $100M Bitcoin bond plan; Circle wins national trust bank approval
Key facts
- Modern Treasury submitted its application to the OCC on Oct. 5, 2026, for a limited-purpose national trust bank to be called Modern Treasury National Trust Bank.
- The proposed charter would cover custody of digital assets, including stablecoins, plus related fiat services, while prohibiting lending and stablecoin issuance.
- Co-founder and CEO Matt Marcus described stablecoins as foundational economic infrastructure for the future and said the company has fully integrated them into its payments platform.
- Cointelegraph reported that Bastion and Ripple hold conditional approvals and that Circle and BitGo have received final approvals, while Kraken parent Payward, Zerohash and Block have also submitted applications.
- Cryptobriefing reported that the trust bank would be a separate regulated entity from the payments service provider business and that Modern Treasury added stablecoin capabilities through its acquisition of Beam in October 2025.
What the charter would and would not permit
National trust bank charters issued by the OCC let firms carry out fiduciary and custody functions under federal supervision while barring deposit-taking, lending and FDIC insurance, according to Cryptobriefing. Modern Treasury’s plan pairs digital asset custody with fiat services so customers can manage both digital and traditional currencies from one platform, and the company said the trust bank would not issue stablecoins or lend.
Modern Treasury said the proposed bank would run separately from its payments business. Cryptobriefing reported the same separation, noting that the existing payments operation would stay where it is and that the trust bank would be its own regulated entity.
Also read: Bank of Italy Study Finds Stablecoin Remittances Offer No Consistent Cost Advantage
Who else is in line at the OCC
The two reports count the field differently. Cointelegraph said Bastion and Ripple have received conditional approvals, that Circle and BitGo have received final approvals, and that Kraken parent Payward, Zerohash and Block have filed applications. Cryptobriefing named Circle, Paxos and Ripple among the firms that have pursued national trust charters and described conditional approvals granted between 2025 and 2026 as evidence of growing acceptance of supervised infrastructure for digital assets. Circle and Paxos are stablecoin issuers, while Ripple is a payments and crypto firm.
Modern Treasury arrives from the other direction: a traditional payments infrastructure company now folding stablecoins into an existing product rather than a crypto-native issuer seeking a charter. Cryptobriefing reported that the company added stablecoin capabilities to its payments platform through its acquisition of Beam in October 2025, and Marcus framed the filing as an extension of that integration that would bring direct federal oversight to its digital asset custody.
Why it matters
If approved, a business could hold stablecoins and fiat under one federally supervised roof instead of assembling several providers. The decision to steer clear of lending and issuance keeps the risk profile simpler, and separating the trust bank from the payments business walls the new custody activity off from the existing operation. The application also adds another name to a queue of crypto and payments firms seeking federal trust charters, a trend that has been building since late 2025.
What to watch
The filing opens the OCC’s review process, and Modern Treasury cannot begin operating the trust bank until it receives the required approvals. The OCC’s decision, and how it treats a company whose roots are in traditional payments, is the next data point for the charter wave.
Reported by cointelegraph.com.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Cryptobriefing