• Paxos denied rumors that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had rejected its application for a national bank charter.
• The OCC granted preliminary approval to Paxos in April 2021 and the opening was four months overdue.
• Separate rumors emerged suggesting that Paxos faces a probe from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Paxos Refutes Bank Charter Rejection Rumors
Stablecoin issuer Paxos stated that it has not been denied a national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). On Feb. 7, rumors circulated regarding OCC’s rejection, which stemmed from its preliminary approval given to Paxos 18 months ago.
OCC Preliminary Approval
The OCC gave preliminary approval to Paxos in April 2021 and it has now been 22 months since then, making it four months overdue. Paxos completely refuted all claims in its Feb. 8 tweet and said that neither is their application withdrawn nor they have received any rejection from OCC. If approved, this would enable them to operate as federally-regulated digital asset bank alongside competitors such as Anchorage and Protego without requiring state licenses for individual states.
Rumors Of NYDFS Investigation Emerge
On Feb. 9, separate rumors suggested that there might be an investigation conducted by New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) on Paxos however none have been confirmed yet by either party. As an issuer of stablecoins Binance USD (BUSD) and the Pax Dollar (USDP), they also run a crypto brokerage along with providing PayPal’s crypto trading capabilities as well.
Conclusion
Paxo’s denial statement against being rejected by OCC has cleared all doubts regarding their application status while investigations being conducted by NYDFS is still uncertain until both parties confirm it officially or reveal otherwise at some later point in time.
Takeaway
The timely denial statement issued by Paxo can be taken as a positive indicator towards their efforts to obtain a national bank charter from OCC although further updates will be required before any official confirmation can be made on this matter both from OCC as well as NYDFS sides if needed at all.