Crypto companies are pushing hard into US banking just as Trump reopens its doors. According to the Wall Street Journal, Circle, Paxos, Coinbase and Bitgo are currently planning to apply for a bank charter or other official license.
This follows Trump’s pledge to make America a “Bitcoin Super Power.” This is a promise that has begun to reconstruct how crypto interacts with financial regulations. The White House supports a new strategy that encourages crypto companies to work closer together with the banking system, and many of Congress are now pushing for two bills that will force stubcoin companies to obtain legal licenses.
Circle and Bitgo want to be federal chartered banks. Coinbase and Paxos are looking at everything from National Trust Charter to Industrial Bank licensing, so they are also considering options. Some people want to act like lenders. Others simply want permission to issue Stablecoin under strict legal rules.
One of these new tokens is already in progress. World Liberty Financial, a Trump family-owned crypto company, recently announced USD1, a stubcoin that Bitgo is detaining, backed by the reserve.
The journal said Bitgo is preparing to submit charter applications immediately. If approved, the company will be subject to more stringent surveillance under federal law.
Crypto companies apply for charters to meet compliance rules
Crypto Crypto has only successfully landed the federal bank’s charter. CEO Nathan Macquarie, who secured the license in 2021, said the company needs to pour “tens of millions” into keeping up to its compliance requirements. He added that the crypto industry must meet “the full scope of regulatory and compliance obligations that banks have.”
In 2022, regulators slapped Anchorage with a consent order that they failed to meet anti-money laundering rules. Still, interest in charters is growing. Bitgo expanded his traditional financial role and worked alongside Coinbase when he became a custodian for BlackRock’s Islands Bitcoin Trust.
Bitgo also worked with Cantor Fitzgerald and Copper to launch a $2 billion Bitcoin-assisted loan program. Tether, the largest stubcoin on the planet with a market capitalization of $145 billion, is Cantor’s leading client, once run by Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick.
The Circle USD coin, which holds Tether’s second-place spot, has around $61 billion in circulation. These stability preserves value by keeping the reserves in cash or short-term Treasury, providing users with stableness while coming in and out of volatile tokens like Bitcoin.
Things have not always been this smooth. After FTX collapsed and the US closed its Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank, traditional banks bailed out of crypto. Paxos and Coinbase struggled to find banks willing to hold their money or offer loans.
However, since Trump returned to the White House, regulators have eased some restrictions. One major rule that required banks to get federal approval before doing crypto-related things has already been rolled back. New guidance is expected later this year on how banks can work in crypto.
Some big banks are already in operation. In February, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that if Congress concludes its legal framework, it would launch a stubcoin. This month, US Bancorp confirmed it is reopening its cryptocurrency supervision services through a new transaction with Bitcoin banking platform NYDIG.
Other companies are also preparing. A group of global banks, including Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered, have begun to consider expanding crypto operations to the US
