Stablecoin payments firm Rain files with the OCC to establish a national trust bank.
DeFi & Yields ·
Rain, a stablecoin payments firm, has filed an application with the OCC to establish a national trust bank. The move places Rain among a growing cohort of crypto and fintech companies pursuing federal trust charters as a path to institutional legitimacy within the U.S. banking system.
A national trust bank charter granted by the OCC authorizes a firm to act as a fiduciary on a nationwide basis—holding assets, managing custody, and conducting trust activities without requiring full deposit-taking authority. For crypto firms, the appeal lies in meeting institutional client requirements: hedge funds, registered investment advisers, and broker-dealers often face compliance restrictions that prohibit them from working with custodians lacking a recognized federal regulatory home. The charter signals prudential supervision by a federal examiner and preempts the fragmented landscape of state-by-state licensing.
Rain's filing outcome remains pending. Other entities, including Circle and World Liberty Financial, have either won OCC approval or advanced through the charter process in recent periods, though the regulatory pathway remains contested—banking groups have sued the OCC alleging it exceeded legal authority in granting certain approvals.