• Key insight: Trust charters offer simpler nationally applicable regulatory structure and preemption, without things like bank capital, deposit insurance or consolidated supervision.
• Supporting data: More than a dozen firms have applied for national trust charters, and the OCC has approved at least nine since the beginning of the second Trump administration. 
• Expert quote: “That idealism was, frankly, always bullshit. In the middle of 2021, I was like, ‘Yeah, they’re just trying to merge with digital finance.’ That narrative has always been a smokescreen for all but a few very dedicated cyber libertarians.” — Hilary Allen, American University’s Washington School of Law 

The wave of applications by digital asset firms for national trust…