Anchorage Becomes the First US Bank with Federal Charter to Hold Tron Cryptocurrency

Anchorage Digital has introduced TRX custody and staking for the Tron crypto network on its platform, becoming the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States to incorporate the Tron network within the regulatory framework.

Tron manages $84 billion in USDT, surpassing Ethereum, yet has largely functioned outside U.S. institutional regulations until this point.

This gap is now being addressed. A federally chartered custodian that supports Tron differs from a state-licensed exchange that lists TRX. It represents a distinct level of legitimacy, with varying compliance responsibilities, counterparty implications, and a different message to the broader institutional market.

Key Takeaways:

• Milestone: Anchorage Digital is the first federally chartered U.S. crypto bank to offer Tron custody, integrating TRX and future TRC-20 assets—including $84 billion in USDT—into a compliant institutional framework.
• Regulatory Context: Tron and its founder Justin Sun have faced persistent regulatory challenges in the U.S., including the 2023 delisting of TRX by Coinbase; however, the SEC dismissed securities allegations against Sun and the Tron Foundation earlier this month, removing a significant barrier.
• Phased Rollout: The initial phase includes TRX custody on Anchorage’s primary platform and the Porto institutional wallet; support for TRC-20 tokens and native TRX staking infrastructure will be introduced in later phases.

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What Anchorage Bank Is Actually Building

The initial offering includes TRX custody on Anchorage’s regulated core platform and its Porto self-custody institutional wallet. Support for TRC-20 tokens and native TRX staking will be rolled out in phases, a structured approach that allows for regulatory validation at each stage rather than a single comprehensive launch.

Anchorage Digital is your new access point to the @trondao ecosystem. $TRX custody is now live with support for TRC-20 assets and native TRX staking on the way. pic.twitter.com/f4xlKwmcir

— Anchorage Digital (@Anchorage) March 26, 2026

Support for TRC-20 is a crucial operational layer. It enables institutions to hold and manage Tron-based stablecoins—including the $84 billion USDT supply on Tron—directly within a federally regulated custody account. This is the essential use case for institutional treasury departments.

Anchorage co-founder Nathan McCauley characterized the initiative as infrastructure-focused: “As TRON expands its presence in the U.S., institutions require reliable infrastructure to securely custody assets and engage with the network. By supporting TRON on Anchorage Digital’s regulated platform, we’re facilitating the integration of one of crypto’s largest ecosystems into an institutional framework.”

The distinction of a federal charter is significant. Anchorage possesses a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—the same regulatory authority that supervises JPMorgan and Citibank. State-chartered custodians function under a fragmented array of state regulations. A federally chartered institution conducting AML/BSA due diligence on Tron and approving it for custody establishes a compliance standard that state-level operators and foreign custodians cannot replicate by definition.

Tron’s network scale warrants the scrutiny. The blockchain has recorded over 371 million total user accounts and more than 13 billion total transactions. It is not a niche protocol but rather a fundamental stablecoin infrastructure that U.S. institutions have been structurally excluded from engaging with compliantly—until now.

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Tron Crypto Regulatory Clearance as a Market Structure Event

The contextual background is essential. Coinbase delisted TRX in 2023 due to regulatory pressures. The SEC pursued allegations of securities violations against Sun and the Tron Foundation, claims that were only dismissed earlier this month, with Rainberry, the parent company of Sun’s BitTorrent network, paying a $10 million fine for undisclosed BTT token promotions.

The SEC case officially concluded yesterday. The judge approved and signed the Final Judgment. The Tron Foundation is fully dismissed on all claims with prejudice. Chapter closed. https://t.co/5zKcAio0ui

— TRON DAO (@trondao) March 10, 2026

This legal uncertainty hindered U.S. institutional engagement with Tron for years. Its resolution, combined with Anchorage’s federal-level due diligence clearance, reopens the market.

Anchorage’s federal endorsement provides other U.S.-regulated entities—prime brokers, custodians, asset managers—with a compliance reference point.

When America’s only federally chartered crypto bank conducts AML/BSA diligence on a network and approves it for custody, it serves as a de facto institutional clearinghouse signal.

Anticipate other regulated venues to expedite their own evaluations of Tron.

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