Rain applies for a national trust bank charter

Another crypto company wants a federal bank charter. Stablecoin infrastructure firm Rain has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to set up Rain National Trust Bank, PYMNTS reported October 6.

Chief executive Farooq Malik said the bank would hold customer assets in fiduciary custody under OCC supervision and would issue and redeem stablecoins. The aim is consolidation. Rain's assets are now spread across state licenses and outside custodians, and a national trust bank would bring them under one roof and one regulator.

Rain is not alone. Modern Treasury announced similar plans a day earlier. The appeal is the same in each case: one federal supervisor is simpler to deal with than a patchwork of state licenses.

What makes the timing notable is the lawsuit. Community banks sued the OCC last week, arguing it has no authority to grant these charters to crypto firms. Applications keep arriving anyway. Firms are betting that the charter survives the challenge, or at least that a place in the queue is worth more than waiting outside it.

That bet carries a clear risk. A ruling against the OCC would put every pending and granted crypto trust charter in doubt, Rain's included. Until a court rules, each new application adds to what is at stake in the case.