BitGo, Ripple Join Wave of Firms Applying for US Bank Charters

Payments and stablecoin firm Ripple Labs Inc. and crypto custodian BitGo Inc. have applied for national bank charters, joining a crush of upstart financial services companies seeking such approval.

BitGo, which custodies billions of dollars in cryptoassets for clients, is weighing an initial public offering as soon as this year, Bloomberg News previously reported.

The custodian’s corporate structure already includes two state-regulated trust companies, one in New York and one chartered in South Dakota.

BitGo declined to comment on which of the two trust companies it had applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for approval ...