Zerohash has submitted a fresh application for a trust bank charter to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), after its initial bid was returned without approval last month.
The crypto infrastructure company said the new application would represent a narrower effort as it seeks to address the issues that prevented its first attempt from progressing.
The move marks the second round of Zerohash’s attempt to obtain a US banking charter through the OCC. Its first application ended in an unusual return of the filing, rather than a straightforward approval or rejection, suggesting that unresolved matters remained outstanding.
Zerohash is now quickly returning to the process with another application. The company’s decision to pursue a more limited proposal indicates that it has changed the scope of its request following the outcome of the original submission.
The OCC is the US regulator responsible for supervising and chartering national banks. A trust bank charter would provide a regulated banking framework for the activities covered by Zerohash’s application, although the company has not indicated that the new filing would seek approval for the same breadth of services as its first effort.
The latest application comes only a short time after the original one was returned. That unusual outcome left the initial effort unresolved and created the basis for Zerohash’s renewed approach.
Zerohash’s business is focused on crypto infrastructure. Its application is part of a wider effort by companies operating in digital assets to establish more formal relationships with the US banking system and to pursue regulated structures for their activities.
However, the company’s first attempt did not receive the approval it sought. Instead, the filing was returned last month, pointing to issues that had not been settled during the earlier process.
Zerohash has not publicly detailed all of those issues. It has said that the second application will be narrower, suggesting that the revised proposal is intended to deal with the concerns associated with the original bid.
The new filing does not guarantee that the company will receive a charter. It restarts the application process and leaves the OCC to assess the revised request.
For Zerohash, the immediate priority is therefore to make progress where the first effort did not. The company’s rapid return with a second proposal underlines its continued interest in securing an OCC trust bank charter, while the narrower scope reflects the outcome of its initial application.
The development also provides a clear indication of the company’s current strategy: rather than abandoning the charter process after the first application was returned, Zerohash is seeking another opportunity with a reduced proposal.
The OCC will now consider the new application. Until that review is completed, Zerohash remains without the approval it originally sought, and the concerns raised by the first filing remain an important part of the background to its second attempt.
