TLDR

• Kraken’s parent entity Payward has submitted an application for a national trust company charter to the OCC
• Approval would establish Payward National Trust Company, providing federally supervised digital asset custody services
• This application complements Kraken’s current Wyoming SPDI banking license and Federal Reserve master account access
• The company has allocated more than $2.6 billion toward recent strategic acquisitions, including NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, and Reap Technologies
• According to co-CEO Arjun Sethi, Kraken has achieved roughly 80% readiness for a possible public offering targeted for 2027

Payward, which operates the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, has submitted a formal application to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) seeking a national trust company charter. The submission was made public on Friday, May 8, 2026.

Should regulators grant approval, this charter would establish a separate legal entity named Payward National Trust Company (PNTC). The new organization would deliver custody and fiduciary solutions under federal regulation, with a primary focus on digital assets.

The OCC has previously granted comparable authorizations to several major industry players, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. Payward aims to join this exclusive group of federally chartered crypto institutions.

Co-CEO Arjun Sethi emphasized that the company prioritizes establishing robust regulatory infrastructure over racing to be first to market. “A national trust company provides the certainty institutions require,” he stated in the official announcement.

Building on Existing Banking Infrastructure

Payward’s regulatory foundation already includes a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter held through Kraken Financial, which was secured in 2020. Kraken Financial achieved a significant milestone as the first digital asset banking entity to obtain a Federal Reserve master account, providing direct integration with the U.S. payments infrastructure.

The proposed OCC trust charter would operate in conjunction with the existing Wyoming authorization. Payward characterizes this approach as a “multi-charter” framework, incorporating both state-level and federal regulatory supervision.

According to the proposal, PNTC would leverage Payward’s established compliance infrastructure and risk management protocols. The primary objective is addressing the needs of institutional investors requiring a federally regulated qualified custodian.

The OCC operates under the leadership of Jonathan Gould, appointed during the Trump administration. The regulatory body greenlit multiple crypto charter applications in a significant wave during December 2025.

Acquisition Spending and IPO Plans

Payward has executed an aggressive expansion strategy through strategic acquisitions. During 2025, the company purchased retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader in a $1.5 billion transaction.

In April 2026, Payward entered into an agreement to acquire crypto derivatives platform Bitnomial for a deal valued at up to $550 million. This acquisition delivered a comprehensive suite of CFTC licenses encompassing brokerage, clearing, and exchange capabilities.

Most recently, the firm announced a $600 million agreement to purchase Reap Technologies, a Hong Kong-based payments company. This strategic move positions Kraken to expand into stablecoin-enabled cross-border payment solutions and card processing infrastructure throughout Asian markets.

Across these three major transactions, Payward has pledged investment exceeding $2.6 billion.

Notwithstanding this substantial acquisition activity, plans for a Kraken initial public offering remain active. Sethi indicated in May that the organization has reached “about 80% ready” status for a potential market debut by 2027.

Kraken has additionally revealed a strategic partnership with MoneyGram, supporting its broader expansion into payment services.

The OCC charter application is currently under regulatory review. The agency has not disclosed an expected timeline for rendering a determination.

Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini are lobbying Senate Agriculture leaders to strip a “not readily susceptible to manipulation” standard from a flagship digital asset bill, warning it would effectively bar small, low‑liquidity tokens from regulated U.S. exchanges and hand the CFTC a veto over future listings.

Crypto’s biggest U.S. exchanges are quietly lobbying to strip a key investor‑protection clause from the Senate’s flagship digital asset bill, warning that it would make listing “small coins” on regulated venues nearly impossible.

According to Politico, Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini submitted redlines to the Senate Agriculture Committee earlier this year urging lawmakers to remove a requirement that registered “digital commodity exchanges” may list only tokens “not readily susceptible to manipulation.”

In a joint letter, the three firms told senators that “millions of Americans are participating in digital asset markets without the federal regulatory protections they deserve” and insisted that “every element of our legislative engagement has been aimed at changing that — by expanding oversight, not limiting it.”

They added that importing the Commodity Exchange Act’s high bar for futures and swaps — where contracts must be “not readily susceptible to manipulation” — into the spot market would “significantly raise the bar for listing smaller, less liquid tokens” and could be weaponized by a future CFTC chair “to throttle innovation” by simply refusing to certify new assets.

Inside the Senate’s digital commodity bill

The provision sits inside the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act, a market‑structure framework first floated in late 2025 by Chair John Boozman and Sen. Cory Booker to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission explicit authority over “digital commodities.”

A client alert from McGuireWoods on the discussion draft notes that any trading facility offering a cash or spot market in a digital commodity would have to register as a “digital commodity exchange,” with obligations modeled on existing CFTC rules for futures venues. Exchanges “may list only digital commodities ‘not readily susceptible to manipulation’ and must certify each listing to the CFTC,” including analysis showing that the token meets statutory criteria and that the venue has adequate surveillance and safeguards. McGuireWoods

The Agriculture Committee advanced its portion of the bill along party lines in late January, as highlighted in a committee release, but everyone expects major surgery before it hits the Senate floor. Politico reports that Republicans will need Democrats on both the Agriculture and Banking Committees to sign off on a final package that can clear the 60‑vote filibuster hurdle, and negotiators are already trading edits across panels.

Crypto.news previously broke down that broader effort in a story on the updated Senate Agriculture draft, noting that it would, for the first time, put federally registered spot intermediaries for bitcoin and ethereum squarely under CFTC supervision while leaving the SEC in charge of securities tokens. The same story highlighted unresolved fights over DeFi, staking and stablecoin rewards that still stand between the draft and a bipartisan deal.

Why Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini are fighting this clause

For Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini, the manipulation test is existential for their long‑tail business. As Politico reports, the exchanges “strongly support the readily susceptible to manipulation standard in traditional futures and swaps markets,” but argue that “importing a standard that doesn’t make sense for spot crypto” would “inadvertently hamstring the agency, the industry [and] consumers.”

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, told Bloomberg earlier this year that the company could even reconsider its support for the overall market‑structure package if it ends up with restrictions that go beyond “enhanced disclosure requirements” for products like stablecoin rewards. Crypto.news’ coverage of that standoff in a story underscored that Coinbase sees the bill as a trade‑off: clearer CFTC rules on one side, potential constraints on its core business on the other.

Now the same pattern is playing out around small‑cap listings. As Politico notes, industry sources say exchanges are also lobbying Senate Banking Committee members to soften related language, warning that if the manipulation test stays intact, many “small, low‑liquidity tokens” will simply never make it to regulated platforms. Instead, they will trade only on offshore venues and in DeFi, exactly where U.S. regulators have the least visibility and leverage.

In a sense, this is the central tension of the bill that crypto.news flagged in its earlier story: Washington wants to drag crypto into a familiar derivatives‑style regulatory box, while the industry is trying to keep enough slack in the system to list riskier assets and offer yield without strangling the business model. The fight over one phrase — “not readily susceptible to manipulation” — is where those two instincts are now colliding.

TLDR:

• Senate Banking Committee will hold the first Crypto Clarity Act vote on May 14 morning session.
• Banking groups want stricter stablecoin reward rules before Senate lawmakers finalize bill text.
• Coinbase backed revised Clarity Act language after negotiations between key Senate lawmakers.
• Ethics concerns and stablecoin yields remain major obstacles before any full Senate floor vote.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will vote on the Crypto Clarity Act on May 14 as stablecoin regulation debates intensify. Banking groups continue pushing for tighter language around stablecoin rewards programs before the markup begins.

Crypto firms including Coinbase now support the revised bill language after negotiations between lawmakers. The latest dispute centers on whether stablecoin incentives could compete with traditional bank savings products.

Crypto Clarity Act Faces Banking Pushback Ahead of Senate Vote

The Senate Banking Committee scheduled the Crypto Clarity Act markup for May 14 at 10:30 AM EST. Watcher.Guru reported the development through an X update.

The proposal has become a focal point in the broader stablecoin regulation debate. Banks argue certain reward structures could resemble interest-bearing savings products.

Several banking trade groups submitted proposed revisions to Republican leadership on the committee. The organizations included the American Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, and Independent Community Bankers of America.

According to reporting from Eleanor Terrett, the groups want stricter wording around stablecoin reward mechanisms. They believe current provisions still leave room for yield-like programs.

The dispute follows compromise talks led by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks earlier this week. Their updated language reportedly secured support from several crypto firms.

Coinbase and other crypto companies backed the revised text after negotiations concluded. The compromise attempted to limit concerns tied to digital asset rewards while preserving stablecoin utility.

Banking organizations still pushed for more revisions despite signals that lawmakers considered the matter settled. A Senate aide described the lobbying effort as limited in scope, according to Terrett’s report.

Stablecoin Regulation Debate Expands Beyond Yield Concerns

The Clarity Act discussions now extend beyond stablecoin rewards. Lawmakers continue debating ethics provisions tied to digital asset ownership and political exposure.

Democratic support for the legislation remains uncertain ahead of the committee vote. Concerns continue around how public officials could financially benefit from crypto holdings.

Committee members reportedly shifted attention toward unresolved ethics language during recent negotiations. Banking sector concerns now compete with broader political discussions surrounding the bill.

The stablecoin market has become a major issue in Washington during 2026. Policymakers continue weighing financial innovation against risks to traditional banking systems.

Banking groups warned that aggressive stablecoin adoption could reduce deposits held by commercial lenders. They argue reward programs may attract users away from standard savings accounts.

Crypto firms maintain that regulated stablecoins improve payment efficiency and blockchain-based settlement. The current proposal attempts to define operational rules without banning incentives entirely.

The May 14 markup will mark the first major Senate committee action on the Crypto Clarity Act. Lawmakers may still revise sections of the bill before any full Senate consideration begins.

US prosecutors said they have secured eight sentences in the last five months against people acting as US-based proxies for North Korea-based IT workers, shedding new light on how they have been able to infiltrate US companies. 

Two men have been sentenced this month alone. The Justice Department said Wednesday that separate courts sentenced Nashville resident Matthew Issac Knoot and New York resident Erick Ntekereze Prince for helping North Koreans work remotely for US companies.

The US perpetrators, known as “laptop farmers,” acted as recipients for laptops that US companies would send to new employees. They installed remote desktop software on the devices, allowing North Korean IT workers to use them remotely while appearing to work from the US.

North Korea’s remote worker scheme generates revenue for the government and has targeted technical roles at crypto companies to gain access to internal systems, company assets and security infrastructure. Such access can help workers understand company infrastructure and identify systems that could later be exploited.

Source: FBI Cyber Division

Prosecutors said Knoot, who was sentenced on May 1, and Prince, sentenced on Wednesday, each received 18 months in prison. 

Prince was ordered to forfeit $89,000, the amount the North Korean workers paid him for the scheme, while Knoot was ordered to pay $15,100 in restitution to the companies and to forfeit an additional $15,100, the amount he earned from the scheme.

Together, the Justice Department said the pair generated $1.2 million in revenue for North Korea, and the scheme affected nearly 70 US companies.

Related: North Korea tied to heists worth $578M in April after Kelp DAO exploit

Last month, New Jersey residents Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang were given nine years in prison and seven years, eight months in prison, respectively, for hosting laptop farms for North Korea.

Prosecutors in that case said the scheme lasted multiple years, used the stolen identities of 80 people in the US and made over $5 million for the North Korean government.

According to a report by CrowdStrike in August, the number of companies that hired North Korean workers over the previous 12 months jumped 220%, with workers infiltrating more than 320 companies over that period.

The report noted that North Korean workers were heavily using artificial intelligence to automate and optimize the process of applying for and working in remote jobs.

The US charged four North Koreans in June last year, accusing them of stealing more than $900,000 in crypto after using fake identities to gain remote employment at an Atlanta-based blockchain research and development company and a Serbian crypto company.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026

US-listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) snapped a five-day inflow streak totaling nearly $1.7 billion as Bitcoin dipped below $80,000.

Bitcoin funds logged $277.5 million in outflows on Thursday, marking the first daily outflows in May, according to SoSoValue data.

Daily spot Bitcoin ETF flows since Friday. Source: SoSoValue

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) led the outflows at $129 million, while BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) followed with $98 million in outflows, according to Farside.

The sharp reversal in Bitcoin ETF flows came amid heightened Bitcoin volatility. Bitcoin rose above $82,000 on Wednesday before falling below the key $80,000 level the next day.

Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF remains resilient amid broader outflows

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust ETF (MSBT), the first spot Bitcoin ETF launched by a US bank, recorded modest inflows of $7.3 million on Thursday. The fund has not seen a single day of outflows since debut on April 8, 2026, according to Farside.

MSBT has so far accumulated 2,920 BTC, worth around $232.6 million, growing assets held for its customers by 557% since launch.

Daily spot Bitcoin ETF flows by issuer (in millions of US dollars) since Friday. Source: SoSoValue

The only other Bitcoin fund to record inflows on the day was the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC), a low-cost spot Bitcoin ETF offered by Grayscale alongside its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

Related: VanEck’s Sigel sees Bitcoin reaching $1M within five years

Canton Network ETF ends slightly lower on Nasdaq debut as token slips

The Bitcoin ETF outflows came alongside the Nasdaq debut of the 21Shares Canton Network ETF (TCAN), the first US-listed ETF designed to offer direct exposure to Canton Coin, the native utility token of the Canton Network.

TCAN began trading on Nasdaq on Thursday and closed its first session at $24.66, slightly down from an initial price of $24.76, according to Nasdaq data. Canton Coin slipped 1.7% on the day, trading at $0.145 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me

The negative trend in crypto markets pushed the Crypto Fear & Greed Index into “Fear” on Friday at 38 after briefly returning to “Neutral” the previous day. The index is still significantly above April levels, when it averaged 17, as Bitcoin has risen about 11% over the past 30 days.

Magazine: Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1M

Tether has frozen more than $514 million in USDT across Ethereum and Tron over the past 30 days, according to onchain data from BlockSec’s USDT Freeze Tracker, highlighting the stablecoin issuer’s growing role in crypto-related enforcement actions.

As of Friday, the tool shows 370 addresses blacklisted in that period, including 328 on Tron and 42 on Ethereum, with about $505.9 million frozen on Tron and $8.73 million on Ethereum.

The figures indicate that most recent enforcement activity is concentrated on Tron and highlight how often the world’s largest stablecoin issuer is intervening onchain to immobilize funds flagged as high-risk or linked to investigations.

The recent activity also builds on a pattern of increasingly frequent enforcement. BlockSec’s analysis of 2025 data found that Tether blacklisted 4,163 unique addresses across Ethereum and Tron, freezing a total of $1.26 billion in USDT. The current pace of freezes suggests Tether could exceed that total in blacklisted USDT well before the end of the year.

Of the $1.26 billion of frozen assets in 2025, more than half (about $698 million) was later destroyed via the contracts’ “destroyBlackFunds” function, and only 3.6% of those addresses were subsequently removed from the blacklist, indicating that once imposed, freezes are rarely reversed.

Tether blacklisting activity accelerates in 2026

A separate study of 2023-2025 trends estimated that Tether immobilized roughly $3.3 billion across 7,268 addresses in those three years, far outpacing rival stablecoin issuer Circle over the same horizon.

USDT Freeze Tracker. Source: BlockSec

Tether has also disclosed larger aggregate totals and detailed some of the cases behind them. In February, the company said it had frozen about $4.2 billion in tokens in three years over links to illicit activity, with some $3.5 billion of that amount locked since 2023 as authorities increased efforts to curb crypto-related crime.

In April, Tether said it worked with the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and law enforcement agencies to freeze more than $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses that US officials said were linked to suspected sanctions evasion involving Iran, while in February, Tether helped authorities to seize over $61 million in USDT linked to so-called pig butchering scams.

Related: Tether reports $1.04B profit in Q1 as Treasury holdings reach $141B

Stablecoin blacklists fuel wider freeze debate

The growing scale of blacklisting and related seizures has fed into a broader debate over how far crypto issuers and protocols should go in stopping suspect flows.

Some projects in decentralized finance, for example, have used upgradeable contracts and admin controls to halt or recover funds in major exploit cases, raising questions about who decides when such powers are used.

In stablecoins, where issuers such as Tether retain direct control over minting and burning mechanisms, onchain data and enforcement disclosures show that blacklisting and freezes are now used regularly in fraud, sanctions and scam investigations.

Tether and the Tron network did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s requests for comment.

Market Moves: Why is Ethereum Foundation selling? BTC futures warning signs

A trio of high-profile crypto exchanges reportedly pressed U.S. lawmakers to strike a controversial provision from a sweeping market-structure bill that, if enacted, could curb trading options for smaller digital assets. According to a Politico report, Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini asked legislators to remove language that would require platforms to offer trading only on assets “not readily susceptible to manipulation.”

The move, which emerged after the US Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the bill in January, highlights the growing influence of exchange operators as policy dialogues unfold ahead of broader regulatory decisions. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong later signaled that the legislation could not be supported “as written,” particularly over issues surrounding tokenized equities. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, later described the matter as “old news” in a social post, underscoring how these discussions have persisted through the markup process.

The reported intervention occurs as regulators signal a push to coordinate crypto oversight even amid limited action from Congress. In March, both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated their intention to coordinate enforcement and oversight of digital assets, an alignment that has sustained despite legislative gridlock. The policy jockeying comes as lawmakers grapple with a broader market-structure framework known as the CLARITY Act, which moved through the House in 2025 and would empower the CFTC to take a lead role in digital-asset regulation.

Beyond these internal debates, industry dynamics continue to shape the process. The same Politico report notes that industry voices have been active in shaping the markup, with exchanges arguing that certain provisions could chill listings of smaller tokens. The evolving dialogue has drawn attention to the tension between regulatory safeguards and the practical realities of token listings, especially for newer or less liquid assets.

In context, industry and policymaker commentary has also touched on the broader timeline for the bill. Last week, a compromise on stablecoin yield was announced between representatives of the crypto and banking sectors, reigniting hope that at least some elements of the CLARITY Act could progress in the Senate Banking Committee. Coinbase’s policy executives have repeatedly framed timing as a critical factor—some expect a markup in the banking committee as early as next week, while others anticipate at least a pathway to a floor vote before the Senate recess in August. In parallel, White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt indicated the administration’s ambition to see the bill advance, aiming for a July 4 deadline for House passage following a June Senate vote.

Taken together, the latest disclosures illustrate how closely industry executives shape the regulatory debate as lawmakers weigh a more centralized framework for digital assets. The CLARITY Act would, if enacted, grant the CFTC expanded authority over digital assets, with the SEC also seeking to coordinate on market oversight. That dual-track approach continues to influence both public policy and market behavior, even while key questions about tokenization, listing standards and potential conflicts of interest linger in the background.

Related reading: Politico detailing exchange lobbying on the markup Cointelegraph live coverage of the Senate markup Coinbase exec comments on markup timing, and Faryar Shirzad’s post outlining the ongoing discussions.

Key takeaways

• Exchanges reportedly urged lawmakers to drop the “not readily susceptible to manipulation” standard, arguing it could restrict listings for smaller assets.
• The CLARITY Act would expand the CFTC’s authority over digital assets, with ongoing coordination between the CFTC and SEC noted by regulators despite a lack of full congressional action.
• Industry voices have become visible players in the markup process, signaling potential policy leverage ahead of final passage.
• Market observers are watching timelines closely: a possible markup next week, with some anticipating House action before August recess and the White House signaling an aim for July 4 progress.
• Alongside structural questions about listings, debates around tokenized equities remain a central sticking point for supporters and critics of the bill.

Regulatory momentum, even amid uncertainty

In March, both U.S. financial regulators signaled a willingness to coordinate oversight of crypto markets, signaling a practical continuity of policy goals even without a fully enacted law. The alignment between the CFTC and SEC reinforces a pragmatic approach to overseeing a rapidly evolving asset class, where enforcement and rulemaking can proceed in parallel with legislative activity.

Industry participants, including major exchanges, have argued that certain regulatory language could impede the ability to list a broad spectrum of digital assets. The tension between safeguarding markets and enabling innovation sits at the heart of the current debate, with observers noting that the final framework will likely rely on a combination of rulemaking, oversight, and targeted legislation rather than a single sweeping statute.

What investors and builders should watch next

For market participants, the coming weeks will be telling. If the markup proceeds as anticipated, the contours of the final market-structure framework could become clearer, including how strictly platforms must assess asset manipulability and what thresholds apply to listing decisions. The ongoing dialogue around tokenized equities underscores a broader question: how to balance investor protection with the practical realities of a diverse asset universe that includes smaller, less liquid tokens.

As the timetable evolves, stakeholders should monitor both committee actions and executive-level signaling. A marked advancement in the banking committee, coupled with a cohesive federal push on stablecoins and yield, could shift the regulatory calculus in important ways for issuers, exchanges and users alike. The balance between risk controls and listing flexibility will likely shape liquidity dynamics, funding models, and the pace of mainstream adoption for digital assets.

Readers should stay tuned to committee calendars, as well as the administration’s public communications, for the next high-signal updates on where the CLARITY Act stands and how industry input may influence precisely where the final law lands.