A leading digital asset custody institution has just received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to convert into a bank. What does this mean? In simple terms, it can upgrade its South Dakota trust company license to a federally chartered national trust bank.

It may sound a bit complex, but the core benefit is straightforward—henceforth, it can offer digital asset custody services across state lines without having to go through approval processes in each state. This is a major liberation for the institution and will significantly improve user experience.

More importantly, after this transformation, it can provide a broader range of non-deposit financial asset custody services and truly regulated crypto-related financial services. In other words, this is not just a new license but a gateway to new business opportunities. In the context of gradually increasing regulatory standards, such breakthrough progress is of great significance to the industry’s compliance development.