According to a report from Fortune on March 17, Protego’s conditional national trust banking charter for the institutional custodian of cryptocurrencies has expired without obtaining permanent approval. Protego didn’t meet the conversion prerequisites, the magazine reports.
A spokesman for the US Comptroller’s Office of the Currency (OCC) told Fortune that the firm had not met the prerequisites for the conversion. According to a spokesperson:
“[Предконверсионные] requirements included policies, procedures, systems and other measures to ensure the safe and sound operation of the bank, as well as compliance with minimum capital and liquidity requirements.”
Protego, based in Washington state, received an 18-month conditional charter dated February 2021 and it has been renewed once. According to the conditional charter, the organization cannot accept deposits. An unnamed source told Fortune that Protego has reached agreements on the necessary funding to meet the charter requirements by the Feb. 4 deadline, but has not received a clear answer about its charter.
The March 5-11 OOC Bulletin lists Protego and states that its conversion time expired on February 4.
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Protego founder and executive chairman Greg Gilman said in an interview with Fortune that he believes Protego has met its funding requirements and the company can either reapply to the OCC, which is a division of the federal Treasury Department, or apply to state agencies to serve as bank.
A federal charter would allow Protego to store digital assets and perform authentication features such as Know Your Customer measures. Anchorage Bank is currently the only cryptocurrency firm to have received a national banking charter.
Custodia Bank was denied a seat on the Federal Reserve on February 23rd. Paxos also received conditional National Trust Bank status in 2021. The spokesperson said the company “continues to work constructively with OCC” on the pending application.
