Kraken Parent Payward Targets OCC Charter to Unlock Institutional Digital Asset Custody
Krakens Parent Files OCC Trust Charter Application to Serve U.S. Institutional Clients If approved by the OCC, the new entity would operate as Payward National Trust Company, providing fiduciary custody and related services primarily for digital assets. The company expects to serve both institutional clients and individual customers who require bank-level custody under federal oversight. Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the move reflects a long-standing position that regulated infrastructure is the correct path for digital assets to scale. “A national trust company provides the certainty institutions require and establishes the infrastructure to build the next generation of custody,” Sethi said. The OCC application builds directly on the regulatory groundwork Payward laid through Kraken Financial, its Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution. Kraken Financial is widely noted as the first digital asset bank to hold a Federal Reserve master account, a distinction that gives Payward a rare foothold across both state and federal banking frameworks. A Wyoming SPDI and a federally chartered national trust company are designed to serve different client needs and regulatory contexts. Together, Payward positions them as complementary pieces of the same regulated banking strategy. “Our Wyoming SPDI and Federal Reserve master account represent a genuinely unique foundation, and the addition of a national