Digital Banks and Crypto Converge

The line between digital banking and cryptocurrency is blurring fast. Fintech groups are rushing to harness the explosive growth of crypto assets to win U.S. customers, and they’re doing it by barging straight into traditional finance.

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New York-Based Circle: A National Trust Charter Would Be “Pivotal”

Circle, headquartered in New York, says securing a national bank-trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) would mark “an important step” toward weaving digital assets into the wider financial system. At present, Anchorage Digital remains the only crypto-native company to hold such a federal charter.

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Ripple, Circle, BitGo, and Kraken File or Plan Banking Moves

Crypto-payments giant Ripple, stable-coin issuer Circle, and custody specialist BitGo have all submitted applications for national trust-bank charters—licenses that allow limited banking services without taking retail deposits. Exchange Kraken, meanwhile, expects to roll out debit and credit cards next month.

“It’s a natural convergence,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi told the Financial Times, adding that the cards should launch “around the end of this month.”

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From “We Don’t Need Banks” to “Please Regulate Us”

The scramble underscores how crypto companies now aspire far beyond trading tokens. Confidence has soared under President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly White House, a sharp reversal from the perceived hostility of the Biden era.

“This is the exact opposite of the original crypto ethos—‘we don’t need banks, we don’t need laws, we’re above it all,’” notes Max Bonici, partner at law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. “Now the refrain is ‘please regulate us.’”

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What a National Trust Charter Actually Does

National trust banks can safeguard assets and process payments, but they cannot make loans or accept deposits directly. The charter also spares firms the patchwork of state-by-state licensing and smooths their on-ramps into the broader financial plumbing.

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Stablecoin Legislation Looms

Washington is actively debating a stable-coin bill that would tether dollar-pegged tokens even closer to the traditional system.

“It effectively opens the U.S. financial market to stable-coins,” says Adam Chernichaw, partner at Pillsbury.

The draft Genius Act would tighten oversight and require issuers to back tokens with U.S. Treasuries—permissioned only for regulated banks and certain OCC-licensed non-banks.

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Ripple Eyes a Fed Master Account

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed the company has also applied for a Federal Reserve master account, which would let it park stable-coin reserves directly at the central bank.

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Robinhood, Revolut, and Klarna Join the Banking Push

Retail brokerage Robinhood—whose crypto trading revenue surpassed 50 % of total revenue last year—plans to launch limited banking services this autumn.

“We should be able to satisfy all of your financial needs,” CEO Vlad Tenev told the FT. “No need to worry about taxes, estate planning, or moving money around.”

London-based neobank Revolut, likewise reliant on crypto trading for a sizable slice of income, still eyes a full U.S. bank license. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski intends to fold crypto products into the buy-now-pay-later platform.

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Big Banks Plot Their Own Stablecoins

Even traditional giants like Bank of America are preparing to issue their own stablecoins once U.S. rules are finalized.

“This administration has signaled it will open the chartering process in ways previous administrations did not,” says David Portilla, partner in the financial-services group at Davis Polk.

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Not Everyone Wants a Banking License

Yet not every crypto firm believes a federal charter is necessary. Kraken, already licensed in Wyoming, is rolling out a new consumer app without pursuing either a national trust charter or a master account.

“We don’t want to be the bank that gives you a mortgage,” Sethi explains. “We just want to partner with whoever provides the best service.”