Minnesota legalized cryptocurrency custody for local banks starting August 1, 2026.
Payward applied for an OCC national trust charter to establish federal digital asset custody, which drew public opposition from the ICBA. Under newly enacted parliamentary legislation, Rwanda reversed its 2018 restrictive stance to formalize virtual asset provider licenses and legally recognize tokenized real-world assets.
ZeroHash secured a Dutch electronic money institution license to legalise stablecoin payment flows across the EEA, and the European Commission opened two consultation pathways to assess whether the MiCA framework requires adjustments.

Minnesota Banks Add Crypto Custody

Minnesota banks and credit unions are legally authorized to provide cryptocurrency custody services starting August 1, 2026.
State residents will have the option to store digital assets within local, regulated financial institutions rather than relying on offshore or out-of-state providers. The legislation permits these financial institutions to act in a nonfiduciary capacity and utilize third-party subcustodians to facilitate the services.

To prevent the commingling of funds, the law requires that all customer digital assets remain legally and operationally segregated from the institution’s own property. Concurrently, separate legislation, SF 3868, stipulates that as of August 1, no new crypto ATMs can be installed, and by December 31, all physical machines must be entirely removed by operators.

This state-level integration of direct crypto services occurs as major digital asset companies continue seeking similar federal approval for national trust charters.

Kraken OCC Charter Application and ICBA Opposition

Payward has “filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (‘OCC’) for a national trust company charter” to establish Payward National Trust Company (PNTC), a proposed entity that “would provide fiduciary custody and other services primarily for digital assets.
According to Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, this charter and their existing “Wyoming SPDI and Federal Reserve master account represent a genuinely unique foundation” acting as “complementary pillars of Payward’s regulated banking strategy.” Sethi stated that a national trust company “provides the certainty institutions require” through “robust, transparent regulation.”

In response, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey characterized the application as “symptomatic of a growing convergence of crypto firms seeking greater access to the federal banking system… without comparable regulation as banks.”
The ICBA warned that providing “crypto firms additional pathways into the banking system” without equivalent regulation could “weaken long-standing guardrails, and create new channels for instability and consumer harm.”
Rainey emphasized that this convergence “raises serious concerns about the significant impacts to lending if community banks lose deposits,” urging policymakers to “exercise caution to protect financial stability.”

Rwanda Regulates Crypto and Real-World Assets

The Rwandan Parliament has unanimously enacted the country’s first legal framework to regulate cryptocurrencies and virtual assets, reversing a restrictive policy layout held since 2018.
Under the new structure, Virtual Asset Service Providers must secure formal operational licenses from the Capital Market Authority in alignment with the National Bank of Rwanda.
The mandate enforces strict compliance standards concerning anti-money laundering frameworks, capital requirements, and asset protection while explicitly criminalizing anonymizing crypto mixers and unlicensed mining operations.
Notably, the statutory definitions extend legal recognition to blockchain-tokenized real-world assets alongside traditional digital tokens.
This shift occurs as multiple East African jurisdictions advance toward formal market oversight to address expanding local remittance demands and regional mobile financial integration.

ZeroHash secures EU stablecoin EMI license

ZeroHash is a B2B digital asset infrastructure provider that uses API-driven backend technology to power crypto and stablecoin features for mainstream platforms like Interactive Brokers Europe.
Its European subsidiary just became the first infrastructure layer to secure an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the Dutch Central Bank while holding an active MiCA authorization.
This dual-licensing milestone addresses recent European Banking Authority rules regarding “e-money tokens”.
While a basic MiCA license covers general crypto services like trading and custody, regulators require this additional EMI banking credential to legally settle fiat-linked payment flows.
By bridging the gap between traditional banking rails and digital networks, this combined regulatory footprint allows ZeroHash’s corporate clients to legally offer stablecoin payments, account funding, and payouts across the entire European Economic Area.

European Commission Launches Formal Review and Consultation on MiCA Framework

On May 20th, the European Commission launched a consultation to gather feedback from stakeholders and the wider public on the functioning of the EU’s regulatory framework on crypto‑assets, the Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA).
This assessment covers MiCA’s core regulatory framework, including key areas such as crypto-asset issuance, asset-referenced tokens (ART), electronic money tokens (EMT), and crypto-asset service providers (CASP). The gathering of information is open until August 31 via two tracks: a public consultation open to individuals, and a targeted consultation for more technical and legal responses from firms, regulators, and industry bodies.
Katie Harries, director and head of policy for Europe at Coinbase, noted that the review is an opportunity to sharpen the framework, stating, “We support targeted improvements to ensure Europe can combine its strong safeguards with global competitiveness, not a reopening of first principles.”
In broader European developments, Zerohash recently became the first company to secure both a MiCA CASP license and a Dutch electronic money institution license. Meanwhile, Polish lawmakers passed a domestic MiCA implementation bill last week; however, the legislation was pushed forward amidst a $96 million fraud probe into domestic exchange Zondacrypto and still faces veto risks from the Polish President.

With thanks to Dean Shuker and Aviv Barkan