VASPs Granted US Charters

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved federal charters for five virtual asset service providers Friday, two months after ACAMS moneylaundering.com reported that the agency had formed an ad-hoc panel to screen a wave of applications for them.

With their national-bank trust charters in hand, the VASPs—National Digital Currency Bank, Ripple National Trust Bank, BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos Trust Company—can manage assets for customers and conduct fiduciary- or trust-related activities on their behalf.

Perhaps most important in the context of anti-money laundering compliance, the charters open the door for the VASPs to apply for accounts with the Federal Reserve that would allow them to settle transactions in U.S. dollars independently of traditional banks.

The charters also free them from having to obtain money transmission licenses from each U.S. state in which they operate.

Anchorage Digital Bank became the first VASP to obtain a national-bank trust charter in January 2021, in the final days of President Donald Trump's first term. The OCC conditionally chartered Protego and Paxos, one of the five VASPs chartered Friday, the same month, but both ultimately fell short of federal safety-and-soundness and anti-money laundering standards.

"The OCC will continue to provide a path for both traditional and innovative approaches to financial services to ensure the federal banking system keeps pace with the evolution of finance and supports a modern economy," Jonathan Gould, the agency's chief, said Friday.

• Topics: Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Finance of Terrorism, Crypto, Fraud, Technology
• Source: U.S.: OCC
• Document Date: December 12, 2025