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Laser Digital has applied for a US national trust bank charter as crypto firms increasingly move onshore under a more permissive regulatory environment.
The application was filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
A federal charter would allow Laser Digital, which is backed by Nomura, to operate nationwide without securing state-by-state custody licences while stopping short of taking retail deposits.
The move places Laser Digital alongside a growing cohort of crypto-native firms seeking trust bank status to consolidate trading, custody and settlement operations under federal supervision.
The OCC typically grants conditional approval for national trust charters, requiring firms to meet capital, governance and compliance standards before full operations can begin.
Other firms pursuing or receiving similar approvals include World Liberty Financial, which is seeking a charter to support its USD1 stablecoin, as well as Circle, Ripple and BitGo.
The trust charter model has gained traction among stablecoin issuers and custody providers as US policy signals greater openness to regulated digital asset infrastructure.