US-based BTC payment service provider BitPay intends to build a national trust bank. It has already petitioned the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to get the approval.
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This means that in the case of a positive response, BitPay will become the only institution that equals U.S. banks. Last summer OCC disclosed that it plans to change the way how crypto and financial technology newcomers authorize their services. At the same time, the bureau informed being ready to receive applications.
A short while after that, cryptocurrency trading platform Kraken got licensed to launch a crypto-native bank.
OCC acting comptroller Brian Brooks, who worked as the chief legal officer of popular crypto trading platform Coinbase from 2018 until recently played a significant role in this. It was under his leadership that the OCC supported crypto custody by government-regulated banks. Before that, for 10 years there was no crypto assistance from the OCC. Instead, there were a lot of cases when banks banned the performance of crypto companies.The bad thing is that the Senate didn't verify Brook's status. It's just lately he got an appointment from President Trump so it's a big question if he will continue to serve his job or not.
Note that BitPay's application is subject to a 30-day timeframe.