Galaxy seeks its own trust bank charter, four years after dropping BitGo

Galaxy Digital has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter, which would let it hold and manage client assets and serve as a federally supervised qualified custodian. The crypto firm had sought that capability in May 2021 by agreeing to buy BitGo for about $1.2 billion, but Galaxy abandoned the deal on August 15, 2022, saying BitGo missed a July 31 deadline for audited 2021 financial statements, with no termination fee paid. BitGo disputed that account and sought $100 million from Galaxy over the termination; a Delaware court dismissed its claims on June 9, 2023. BitGo received full OCC approval for its own trust charter on January 29, 2026.