National Trust Bank Bid: Citadel Securities-Backed Crypto Exchange Enters The Fray

EDX Markets, the crypto exchange backed by Wall Street giant Citadel Securities, has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter, according to a public filing disclosed Wednesday. 

The move comes as US regulators under the current Trump administration have adopted a more receptive posture toward crypto firms seeking to operate under federal banking charters.

EDX’s chief executive, Tony Acuña‑Rohter, who is slated to join the proposed trust’s board, told Bloomberg that the exchange expects large banks to drive the next phase of crypto adoption. He said securing an OCC trust charter would give EDX a competitive edge in servicing those institutions. 

By operating under a national trust charter, crypto firms can operate across state lines under a single federal regulator, rather than obtaining multiple state money‑transmitter licenses, simplifying custody, settlement, and fiduciary services for digital assets.

EDX’s filing argued that the existing structure of many digital‑asset platforms concentrates multiple functions — brokerage, exchange, market‑making, and custody — within single vertically integrated firms, creating potential conflicts of interest and single points of failure. 

The company said moving custody, asset management, and trade settlement into an OCC‑chartered national trust bank would provide customers with the “most secure regulatory structure possible,” and would align digital‑asset market infrastructure more closely with the separation of duties customary in traditional equities and derivatives markets.

The application places EDX among several crypto companies pursuing similar paths. In December of last year, five firms — including Circle (CRCL) and Ripple — received conditional approval for trust charters. However, not everyone in the financial sector supports that approach. 

Some incumbent banks and industry groups have pushed back, concerned that expanding trust‑bank charters to crypto companies stretches the historical purpose of the charter and could introduce new risks. 

Rebeca Romero Rainey, president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, warned that conditional approvals could endanger consumers and create institutions that the OCC might struggle to regulate effectively. 

She also argued that the new framework can permit stablecoin operators to access the federal banking system without meeting the same capital and regulatory standards required of full‑service, deposit‑taking banks.

Yet, the OCC’s leadership has defended the approvals. Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said new entrants to the federal banking system can bring fresh products and services and boost competition, which he maintained would benefit consumers and the broader banking sector. 

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com