News
Ramp applies for a US national trust bank charter days after raising $1.85bn
A day after a $1.85bn round at a $60bn valuation, Ramp filed with the OCC for a trust charter covering custody and investment management. No deposits, no loans.
Ramp raised $1.85bn at a $60bn valuation, in a round led by Dragoneer Investment Group. The next day it filed for a national trust bank charter with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The ask is narrow. Ramp wants to hold digital assets and manage money as a fiduciary. It says it won't take deposits or make commercial loans, and that it will keep working with its partner banks. The timing is awkward, though. Weeks earlier the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC over exactly these charters. By its count, 21 have been approved or conditionally approved since the current administration took office, and 13 of them went to crypto companies.
Why it matters: Custody and treasury providers that sell into spend platforms should notice. The biggest platform in the category would rather hold the licence itself, if the courts let it.
Sources: Banking Dive · Payments Dive
Sources
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