For years the story was crypto knocking on Wall Street’s door. On Wednesday the door opened from the inside. A US banking regulator invited crypto firms to become national banks, the SEC cleared a major asset manager’s fund to run on a public blockchain, and one of the largest platforms turned 1,500 US stocks into round-the-clock tokens.
- The OCC told crypto firms they can apply to become national banks, with 40 charter applications already filed.
- Cleared by the SEC, Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money fund can now sit inside ordinary mutual funds and ETFs.
- 1,500 US stocks, from Apple to Nvidia, now trade as onchain tokens on Crypto.com, priced around the clock.
The pattern is hard to miss. The institutions that once kept public blockchains at a distance are now issuing on them, settling on them, and asking to be regulated on them. The base layer crypto users have relied on for years is quietly becoming how mainstream finance runs.
Regulators open US bank charters to crypto firms
Source: Bitcoin Magazine
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told crypto firms they can pursue national bank charters, with Acting Comptroller Jonathan Gould declaring the agency is “open for business.” Companies including Ripple, Circle, Paxos and Crypto.com have already received conditional approval, and Coinbase’s application is under review.
The OCC has fielded 40 new charter applications over the past 18 months, a sharp turn from the early 2010s when barely a handful arrived each year. A national trust bank charter lets a crypto company hold client assets and settle trades inside the federal banking system, though it stops short of taking retail deposits or lending.
Zypto take: A bank charter is a promise that someone trustworthy is holding your assets for you. That is a real option, and more of it is good for the industry. It is also the opposite of the promise crypto was built on.
Self custody means no charter, no counterparty and no permission slip stands between you and your money. Zypto App keeps your keys on your own device across 20+ blockchains, so what you own never depends on which institution is minding it. Download Zypto App.
The SEC clears Franklin Templeton’s tokenized fund for everyday funds
Source: The Block
The SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued a no-action letter letting Franklin Templeton’s conventional mutual funds and ETFs hold shares of its onchain government money fund, known as BENJI, for cash management. The relief waives certain physical-vault custody requirements that predate blockchains entirely.
BENJI launched on Stellar in 2021 and has since expanded to Ethereum and Solana, holding roughly $726 million, most of it on Stellar. Franklin Templeton controls the wallets and keys, while its transfer agent keeps the official shareholder records.
Zypto take: A tokenized fund only matters if the tokens can actually be used, and that is what this clears. Once an ordinary fund can hold an onchain fund for its day-to-day cash, the blockchain stops being a demo and becomes back-office infrastructure a regulator has signed off on.
It is telling that the largest slice of BENJI lives on Stellar, the same network Zypto has used for years to move value in the real world. Real-world assets coming onchain is not a future Zypto is waiting for, it is one the ecosystem already runs on.
Crypto.com puts 1,500 US stocks onchain as tokens
Source: crypto.news
Crypto.com launched tokenized derivatives tracking 1,500 US stocks and ETFs, from Apple and Nvidia to Tesla and gold funds, for eligible users in the European Economic Area and other approved markets. Trading runs around the clock, starts at $1, and settled with zero commission during an introductory window.
The tokens track prices rather than granting ownership. Holders get dividend-equivalent adjustments but no shares and no voting rights, with the underlying assets held by a US-regulated broker-dealer.
Zypto take: Round-the-clock access to Apple or Nvidia priced in tokens is a genuinely useful thing, and putting equities onchain is a real step. Read the fine print, though, and you hold exposure to a price, not the asset itself.
That gap is worth keeping in view. The whole point of holding something onchain is that it is yours, which is exactly what self custody delivers. With the Zypto multichain wallet, 24,000+ assets across 20+ blockchains sit under keys you control, not a claim you hope clears.
Key Takeaways
- The biggest crypto news of the day came from institutions, not tokens: a regulator, an asset manager and an exchange all moved traditional finance onto public blockchains.
- Custody, funds and equities going onchain is adoption by the back office, the part users rarely see but increasingly rely on.
- Onchain does not automatically mean ownership. A tokenized stock or a chartered custodian can still sit between you and the asset, so the terms matter.
- Self custody stays the one arrangement where the asset is simply yours, with no charter, counterparty or issuer required.
- Traditional finance is wiring itself onchain in real time. The choice between owning outright and holding a claim is the one worth watching.
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