The recent application will first go for public comments for a 30-day period and later will move towards OCC approval. Metal Pay expects a decision from the OCC within the next four months.
Metal Pay, the US-based peer-to-peer crypto payments startup, has recently applied for a National Bank Charter in America. Dubbed as the “First Blockchain Bank and Trust, N.A.”, the trust company will be based out of South Dakota.The crypto startup submitted this application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) earlier this week on February 3. The Metal Pay CEO also added that they will shortly file applications with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco as well as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).As the crypto industry matures, new startups in this space are showing much interest in bringing crypto banking solutions. On the other hand, the OCC has been showing crypto-friendly nature in recent times. This has encouraged more players to come up with their own crypto banking solutions in recent times.Last month, the OCC granted its first Federal Crypto Bank charter to crypto custodian Anchorage. Post that a number of players have shown interest. BitPay, Paxos and now even Metal Pay are among the latest names to apply for a banking charter with the OCC.Metal Pay Applied for a Full Bank LicenseMetal Pay CEO Marshall Hayner has said that the crypto startup has applied for its first “full” banking licensure. “This would be the first FDIC-insured crypto bank,” Hayner said speaking to CoinDesk. It means that the banking license will allow the startup to accept cash deposits in addition to crypto. Also, it wants that the FDIC should insure these cash deposits.Now that the application is filed, it will enter a 30-day public comment window before it goes to the OCC for consideration. Having a realistic expectation, Hayner said that the OCC should give its decision within four months. It is very much possible that we will be having a new OCC by then.Former crypto-friendly Acting Comptroller of the OCC recently left the office during the end of the Trump Administration. Crypto startup Metal Pay said that its service aims to majorly attract institutional players. Of course, retail players will also be a part of the crypto bank. Recently, crypto exchange Gemini also launched its new crypto-interest service Gemini Earn offering a 7.4% APY yield on crypto deposits.
