Ramp has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter to custody digital assets, the company said.
The New York-based spend-management fintech reportedly filed the application on October 16 for a new entity called Ramp National Trust Bank. The proposed bank would focus on fiduciary investment management and custody services for digital assets. Ramp said the new entity “will not take deposits or make commercial loans” , keeping it inside the narrow lane carved out for crypto custody regulation rather than the full banking system. The company said the charter would put it under a consistent federal regulatory framework.
The charter Ramp is seeking allows fiduciary activities such as custody and investment management, but not deposit-taking or commercial lending. That structure has become the preferred entry point for crypto-adjacent firms. The OCC’s trust charters granted to crypto firms include Stripe-owned Bridge, which won conditional approval for a national trust bank charter in February, and Circle, which received final approval in July for First National Digital Currency Bank. Others have fared worse. The OCC rejected Wise’s trust bank bid in July, citing compliance and money laundering concerns, while Revolut took a broader path, securing conditional approval for a full national bank charter in September that still requires steps with the FDIC and the Federal Reserve.
Ramp brings unusual scale to the queue. The company, valued at $60 billion in its latest funding round and carrying an annualized revenue run rate of about $2 billion, serves more than 85,000 teams, according to figures the company has given to press. It was valued at $8.1 billion after a $750 million funding round in 2022.
The application also lands in contested territory. On October 2, the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC in federal court in Washington over the limited trust charters it has granted crypto firms. Rebeca Romero Rainey, the trade group’s chief executive, said Congress did not create the charter as “a side door into the banking system for crypto firms” .
The OCC has not disclosed a review timeline for the application. More than 30 companies applied to become US banks in 2025, among them Interactive Brokers and PayPal, according to consulting firm Klaros Group.
