Blockworks

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary conditional approval for a de novo national bank charter to Erebor Bank.



The approval positions Erebor Bank, a venture backed by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and firms connected to Joe Lonsdale and Peter Thiel, to become one of the first federally-chartered banks built around the innovation-economy client base once served by Silicon Valley Bank.&nbsp;



According to Erebor’s June <a href="https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2025/nr-occ-2025-101.html">filing</a>, investors plan to commit around $250 million in capital through 8VC, Founders Fund, Haun Ventures, and other backers. The proposed leadership team includes Michael Hagedorn as president, with Owen Rapaport and Jacob Hirshman serving as co-chief executives.



Erebor’s application outlines a target clientele spanning crypto, AI, and defense startups as well as high-net-worth individuals in those sectors. The bank also intends to assist foreign banks with U.S. dollar-based transactions.&nbsp;



In its OCC filings, Erebor <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/palmer-luckey-joe-lonsdale-bank-erebor/">describes</a> plans to become “the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions,” to promote “broader acceptance of stablecoins,” and to accept cryptocurrencies as collateral for certain loans. Stablecoins are digital tokens whose value is pegged to a currency such as the U.S. dollar, often backed by cash or short-term Treasuries to maintain price stability.



Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould called the move a milestone for a “dynamic and diverse federal banking system,” adding that the agency “does not impose blanket barriers” to banks that want to engage in permissible digital-asset activities, provided they are conducted in a safe and sound manner.



While the OCC’s conditional approval confirms Erebor’s eligibility to proceed, the bank must still meet all pre-opening requirements, including capital adequacy, governance, and compliance testing.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Banking

OCC guidance paves way for Erebor’s crypto-bank ambitions

Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin unit, has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter.



The move was announced by co-founder Zach Abrams <a href="https://x.com/zcabrams/status/1978138910464324060">on X</a>.&nbsp;



Abrams said that the charter would enable Bridge to manage reserves, provide custody and other functions. The post cited the GENIUS Act, a legal framework for stablecoins that was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-signs-genius-law">signed into law</a> in July.



“We’ve long believed stablecoins will be a core, regulated financial building block. This regulatory infrastructure will enable us to tokenize trillions of dollars and make this future possible,” Abrams wrote.



The OCC charter, if approved, would place Bridge in a similar regulatory category to Paxos and Anchorage Digital, both of which hold charters. These charters permit companies to engage in digital asset custody and token issuance under federal banking supervision rather than state-by-state licensing.



Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge marked a major strategic step for the payments firm into stablecoins. The transaction, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-bridge-acquisition-stablecoin-infrastructure">announced</a> last year, was completed in February.&nbsp;



The latest move suggests a deeper integration of stablecoins into mainstream financial rails. Stripe <a href="https://stripe.com/en-hk/newsroom/news/sessions-2025">announced</a> new stablecoin-powered money management tools in May.



The OCC has not publicly commented on the filing. Bridge’s application remains pending, with review timelines typically spanning several months.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor<a href="https://blockworks.co/author/michael-mcsweeney" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Michael McSweeney </a>before publication.



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Stripe’s stablecoin biz seeks national bank trust charter

Katherine Ross

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions,&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Right before the weekend kicked off — and in the middle of the White House Crypto Summit — the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency clarified that, actually, banks could engage in some crypto activities.&nbsp;



What’s more, they don’t necessarily need to seek the okay from regulators before hopping into crypto.&nbsp;



It’s a big deal, but one that got lost in the sauce because we were a bit preoccupied with the executive order on the strategic bitcoin reserve and stockpile. Essentially, this was the first step that banks were waiting for.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeyL9KxuVxJ1MGDcKdjfJRMfuQZBsvYsX6ql5BDIix3SnrPYJw_yp45fVjaJv3qtl_T4QPUoRFiRF8U3lw3vTMbk2s4rmqvQzqVTd6s6jb7-B_ypZOBy9c1jb2jv4heeMrVCwCS?key=ad6T2Fh4Ptmmhj_iW6kXREw1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">From the OCC’s <a href="https://occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2025/bulletin-2025-2.html">statement</a> last week</figcaption></figure>



Pillsbury partner Brian Montgomery told me his clients — which include banks, financial institutions and the like — are excited. He spoke to me from a banking conference where OCC’s acting Comptroller Rodney Hood appeared, and Hood sounded “very eager” to open the avenue for banks.



Apparently, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan isn’t the only one considering a stablecoin either, as quite a few large national banks are mulling the idea, too.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Some banks have wanted to be able to provide services in the digital asset space, and haven&#8217;t been able to do it. So I don&#8217;t know that the tone for banks has changed. I think the tone from regulators has been changing over the last several months,” Montgomery told me.



The thing is that the OCC’s statement only covers national banks. We’d need to see something similar on the federal level from the FDIC and even the Federal Reserve to actually change the stance of regulators, but Montgomery thinks it’s just a matter of time before everyone’s in alignment.&nbsp;



The timing could be a matter of months — specifically three to four months, though Montgomery was careful to note that the timeline is a bit speculative.&nbsp;



I should note <a href="https://x.com/s_lutz95/status/1899184113979949225">there are reports floating around</a> that suggest President Trump is mulling an executive order that would roll back some of the anti-crypto banking policies that the former administration put into place. Specifically, the EO would be expected to focus on the Federal Reserve’s policies and could be signed as soon as this week.



Either way, guidance could arrive in the next month or two. If this timeline works out, then it gives banks and regulators a cushion between letting financial institutions explore potential offerings and (hopefully) the passing of stablecoin regulation or other crypto regulation over in DC.&nbsp;



It’s not just stablecoins the banks are interested in, either. They’re also looking to custody crypto and provide banking services to crypto firms (which is a shift in tone from <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/is-crypto-early-in-the-cycle">Operation Chokepoint 2.0</a>).&nbsp;



“We&#8217;ve had to remind folks and think to ourselves that there are still state regulators out there that have a say in a lot of how this works, and so — whether it’s potential money transmission activity or state charter banks providing these services — it&#8217;s a positive step that the federal administration and federal regulators are moving in this direction. But that&#8217;s not always the end of the game. [We] need to be thinking about state regulation as well,” Montgomery explained.



It’ll be a “hurdle” given that not all state regulators are crypto friendly, but it’s nothing Montgomery is concerned about — just something that he’ll be mulling in further conversations with his clients.



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What the OCC’s tone shift means for banks adopting crypto

Shalini Nagarajan

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has established a new fintech office to adapt to technological evolutions in banking, including crypto assets.



The Treasury said the office will add to its knowledge of digital assets, fintech partnerships and other emerging technology models that have an impact on OCC-supervised banks. It will also contribute to oversight of partnerships between traditional institutions and fintech firms.



Prashant Bhardwaj, who has worked in several roles across the financial sector for 30 years, has been appointed the new fintech office&#8217;s deputy comptroller and chief financial technology officer. His tenure begins April 10.



“To ensure that the federal banking system is safe, sound, and fair today and well into the future, we need to have a deep understanding of financial technology and the financial technology landscape,” Michael Hsu, acting comptroller of the currency, said in a <a href="https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2023/nr-occ-2023-31.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>.&nbsp;



The OCC is a department under the Treasury in charge of executing laws relevant to national banks. Some of its powers include supervisory actions against banks, removal of bank directors and rejecting applications for new bank branches.



Hsu has previously urged the crypto industry to introduce stablecoin standards in the same vein as the World Wide Web Consortium and Internet Engineering Task Force’s approaches to guiding internet development.



In December, the OCC reiterated its stance on taking a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-treasury-occ-crypto-problem" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cautious approach</a> to crypto, pointing to various events that roiled digital asset markets in 2022.&nbsp;



One year earlier, Hsu had issued a reminder to federal savings associations and national banks to not participate in “certain cryptocurrency, distributed ledger, and stablecoin activities” without a non-objection notice from their regulatory supervisors.



“The events of this year in the crypto industry have revealed a high degree of interconnectedness between certain crypto participants through a variety of opaque lending and investing arrangements,” the agency said in a semi-annual Risk Perspective report.



Just before his recent retirement, Senator Pat Toomey pushed legislation that would see the OCC <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lame-duck-senator-leaves-stablecoin-bill-legacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gain direct oversight</a> of stablecoin issuers by way of a specialized licensing charter.



The agency was among three powerful US financial regulators to express skepticism over financial institutions holding crypto assets in January. Along with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the OCC <a href="https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/2023/pr23002a.pdf">warned</a> that risks associated with crypto should not spill over into the banking system.&nbsp;



“Based on the agencies’ current understanding and experience to date, the agencies believe that issuing or holding as principal crypto-assets that are issued, stored, or transferred on an open, public, and/or decentralized network, or similar system is highly likely to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices,” the agency said.



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Fintech

Fresh OCC ‘Fintech Office’ Tasked With Keeping Up With Crypto

Casey Wagner

US financial regulators joined forces again this week to make sure banks got the message: They need to take risks associated with crypto seriously.



But so far, no new requirements have been issued.&nbsp;



Firms have been put on notice that careful risk assessments need to happen, but the latest statement is in no way creating new policies, the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said.&nbsp;



The new statement, issued Thursday, is intended to “remind banking organizations to apply existing risk management principles” when it comes to crypto-related activities.



Banks should consider “concentration and interconnectedness” across deposits and potential liquidity risks. Firms are also advised to complete “robust due diligence and ongoing monitoring” of all crypto activity.



Thursday’s statement is an update to the warning issued <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-poses-key-risks-to-banks-but-carry-on">by the same three groups in January</a>. The agencies are primarily concerned with volatility and liquidity risks on exchanges and with stablecoin reserves, the new <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20230223a1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> added, and banks need to take the proper precautions. 



Regulators said banks should not lend deposits made by crypto customers and should hold cash to back all deposits.



“One read of the follow-up is that it’s positive insofar that the regulators specifically clarify they aren’t banning banks from banking crypto,” Galaxy Digital analysts wrote in a note Friday. “This could be seen as slightly softening their prior guidance and genuinely providing a bit more clarity.”



On the other hand, the statement could simply be preemptive of future policy, analysts added. It’s no secret <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-banking-hearing-on-crypto-crash">Congress</a> and the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-crypto-enforcement-actions-accelerate">SEC</a> are taking a harsher look at the industry, and it’s only a matter of time before banks have new guidelines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Scrutiny of crypto access to the banking system heats up&nbsp;</h2>



In a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-banking-hearing-on-crypto-crash">Senate hearing earlier this month</a> to discuss recent turmoil in markets, witness Lee Reiners, policy director of the Duke Financial Economics Center, urged lawmakers to isolate digital assets from financial institutions.&nbsp;



“We should do everything we can to restrict crypto from entering the banking system,” Reiners said in his testimony.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Banks are starting to take the hint, too. Notoriously crypto-friendly Signature Bank dropped <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/signature-bank-limit-on-swift-transactions-with-binance-affects-few-users">long-term client Binance</a> last month and Custodia’s second bid for Fed supervision was unanimously <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/orders20230223a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denied</a> Thursday. 



Custodia is now suing the Fed Board and its Kansas City branch over the dispute.&nbsp;



“What matters is whether banks are actually being pressured or not, and there is some evidence they are,” Galaxy analysts said.&nbsp;



“Further, it matters whether the sum of the actions the banking regulators have taken has had an impact on bank’s risk tolerance frameworks, i.e., whether both banks that do and banks that do not provide services to the sector have sufficient clarity or are not otherwise dissuaded from providing services to the crypto sector.”



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Banks

Banks Should Back Deposits From Crypto Customers With Cash: US Agencies

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_61964dccecf74" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Anchorage is a major player in digital asset custody, and now on the radar of major Wall Street firms</li>
 <li>KKR&#8217;s total assets under management reached $459 billion in Q3, 2021</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Private equity firm KKR &amp; Co is set to lead an investment round into digital asset bank <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=Anchorage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anchorage</a>, which would value the bank at $3 billion, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/kkr-plans-to-lead-investment-in-crypto-firm-anchorage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Information reports</a>.



This move by KKR continues the firm’s interest in digital assets. In September, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/private-equity-firm-kkr-invests-in-defi-and-blockchain-focused-parafi-capital/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks reported that KKR has invested</a> as a limited partner in ParaFi Capital’s flagship fund. ParaFi manages about $1 billion and focuses on decentralized finance and blockchain technology. Recently, the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/parafi-to-launch-200-million-growth-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">company has been making moves</a> to launch a $200 million growth fund. 



ParaFi’s founder Ben Forman was once KKR’s research head, and the firms are said to maintain close ties.&nbsp;



Anchorage has attracted significant institutional interest since its inception. Earlier this year Singapore’s GIC, one of its sovereign wealth funds that’s a low-risk, blue-chip investor, closed an $80 million round into the bank, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gics-anchorage-investment-sheds-light-on-future-of-digital-assets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks reported</a>. Within Asia, GIC is considered to be a very conservative investor looking for infrastructure plays, whereas its cousin, Singapore’s Temasek, is compared to Masayoshi Son’s Softbank preferring big bold bets.&nbsp;



The Information also reported that Fireblocks, a custodian, is in the process of raising a round with a valuation of $8 billion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



To date, Anchorage has raised $137 million over four funding rounds, according to <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/anchorage">Crunc</a><a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/anchorage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">h</a><a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/anchorage">base Pro</a>.&nbsp;The regulated custody of digital assets remains a significant barrier to mainstream adoption. In the US, major baking regulators FDIC, Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-regulators-exploring-how-banks-could-hold-crypto-assets-fdic-chairman-2021-10-26/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exploring</a> how best to coordinate supervision of banks that want to provide custody services. Previously, the OCC took proactive steps to establish a “<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/occ-to-unveil-bank-charter-for-crypto-financial-services-firms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crypto bank charter</a>” with Anchorage and Paxos <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/paxos-gets-occ-approval-for-a-bank-charter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">two prominent recipients</a> earlier this year. 



Anchorage PR representatives, reached by Blockworks, declined to comment.



This story was updated <meta charset="utf-8">on November 18, at 11:09 am ET.



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Anchorage

KKR Leads Anchorage Series D Raise at $3B valuation

<div id="highlights-block_614dff334b5d1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Saule Omarova is calling for greater oversight of big banks and new financial technologies, including cryptocurrencies </li>
 <li>The nomination will have to receive Senate approval</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



President Biden has named his pick for the head of Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and, if confirmed, big banks and digital asset firms are in for a rude awakening.&nbsp;



The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/09/23/president-biden-announces-key-nominations-for-financial-regulation-and-investor-protection/">announced</a> the nomination of Saule Omarova, a professor at Cornell Law School, on Thursday. Omarova has said she wants to “end banking as we know it,” including greater government oversight of Wall Street and cryptocurrencies.&nbsp;



The OCC, a 3,500 person agency, is responsible for regulating and supervising national banks and federal savings associations. It also oversees related business practices of banks, including mergers and newer areas of engagement, such as cryptocurrency.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“If confirmed, I will work hard to make sure that our banks remain stable, strong and serve the needs of the American people,” Omarova said in a statement obtained by Blockworks. </blockquote>



In her writings, Omarova has said she is in favor of restructuring the Federal Reserve. She has also called for the central bank to provide citizens with bank accounts, solving an issue that crypto advocates have long said that blockchain technology would accomplish.&nbsp;



These plans are part of her “blueprint for radically reshaping the basic architecture and dynamics of modern finance,” she wrote.&nbsp;



Omarova has also said that consumer deposits should be moved into digital-dollar accounts at the Fed, hinting at the need for a central bank-backed digital currency.&nbsp;



“The success of Bitcoin paved the road for the subsequent emergence of numerous crypto-assets purporting to challenge the supremacy of sovereign money,” she wrote. “Recent growth of ‘stablecoins’&#8230; presents a particularly tangible challenge in this respect. Not surprisingly, Facebook’s plans to launch its own stablecoin, Libra, immediately heightened the salience of CBDC on central banks’ agenda.”



If confirmed, Omarova will be the first woman and the first nonwhite person to lead the OCC. The Biden administration has been looking to fill the position for the past month and will have to receive Senate approval for the nomination.&nbsp;



“Her experience as a policymaker, in the private sector, and in academia will allow her to work with stakeholders across our financial system to ensure the economy works for everyone, and to protect our economic recovery from the risky activities of Wall Street and other bad actors,” said US Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, in a statement.



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