According to reports, Protego Trust has obtained conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to transform into a nationally chartered cryptocurrency bank. Protego becomes the second digital asset financial institution to receive national licensing from the OCC, after Anchorage. Protego aims to support institutional consumers involved in digital assets.
However, OCC provided the first national banking charter last month, making Protego the second crypto custodian to receive the charter. Consequently, according to the reports, Protego Trust Bank will become a regulated crypto asset bank which is vertically integrated. The recently chartered bank will render four significant services to its clients. It involves insurance for crypto assets, lending and borrowing, crypto trading solutions, and custodial services.
Protego Trust undergoes reorganization
Protego is relatively a new company as it is still in the process of the organization. Recently, Protego is a Washington state-chartered trust firm. The company is in the stage of being reorganized in a federal trust bank (Protego Trust bank). The firm will possess 18 months to satisfy the terms of the OCC’s conditional approval to start its operations. The company plans to launch its operations later this year to provide lending, trading, and custody services to clients in all 50 states.
However, Protego accompanies various other digital asset firms that have received bank charters. Early last month, Anchorage, the digital currency custody firm, received a national bank charter from the OCC. Moreover, both the Avanti crypto bank and Kraken cryptocurrency exchange received their charters from Wyoming rather than the OCC. However, they can function over the country. This indicates that they still carry business anywhere in the US, yet with more restrictions than Protego and Anchorage.
Recently, crypto banks that are federally regulated are likely to receive attention from institutional investors. They are now displaying enthusiasm in the crypto space and ready to commit to secure and compliant digital asset companies. Leading crypto custodian banks are trying to obtain approval from the regulators to draw Institutional investors. A startup company, MetalPay, also lately filed for a bank charter with the OCC on February 3.
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