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Nomura-backed crypto company Laser Digital has applied for a US banking licence, marking the latest push by a digital asset group into the traditional financial system.
Laser Digital’s application for a national bank trust charter was filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move by the Nomura subsidiary marks the latest in a flurry of US banking licence applications filed by fintechs, digital asset groups and even car companies hoping to capitalise on the Trump administration’s light-touch regulatory regime.
The OCC licenses banks at the federal level, removing the need for Laser Digital, which was spun out of Nomura in 2022, to apply for custody permits state by state.
The group will not take direct deposits but plans to offer spot trading for digital assets, one person familiar with Laser Digital’s position said.
Laser Digital declined to comment.
Approval for an OCC charter is a two-stage process. The regulator will give preliminary approval within about four months followed by a final approval once the applicant has demonstrated it has raised the necessary capital and has the credibility to run a bank.
This second step can take upwards of a year.
Under the Biden administration, the OCC set a high bar for the initial approval stage and applicants would often withdraw their applications. Regulators under Donald Trump have shown themselves to be more permissive in granting preliminary approvals.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company controlled by the Trump family, applied for a licence in early January. European fintech group Revolut is also set to file an application with the OCC, having scrapped plans to grow its US operations by buying an American lender, the FT reported last week.
Ford and General Motors last week received approval to set up banks from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, giving them access to lower-cost funds than a traditional financial subsidiary of a large manufacturer.
The OCC last October approved the launch of a bank backed by Palmer Luckey, co-founder of military contractor Anduril, which hopes to work with companies focused on digital assets, AI, defence and manufacturing.
Jonathan Gould was sworn in as OCC comptroller last July after being nominated by Trump.
In 2025, there were 14 applications to the OCC — many from fintechs — for a de novo charter to become a limited-purpose national trust bank, according to data from the law firm Freshfields. The number was almost as many as the total for the preceding four years.
The push into banking by fintechs and digital asset companies comes as the Clarity Act, a sweeping piece of crypto legislation, was last week delayed by the Senate after crypto exchange Coinbase withdrew its support.
Bank lobbyists have also come out against parts of the bill relating to the rewards that are paid to people who own stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to the US dollar.
Traditional banks argue that allowing individuals to earn more interest on dollar-linked tokens than they do in their bank accounts will lead to “deposit flight” and dent lending.
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