š Three federal bank licenses a day for stablecoin companiesāmoving into the banking system.
On September 18, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved three trust bank charters in the same day. The decisions are all posted on the official website. Bastion converted from a New York state trust company into Bastion Platforms National Trust Company, charter number 27198. Catena Trust Bank is 27214, and Agora National Trust Bank is 27207āboth newly established.
First, be clear about what these three licenses *donāt* do. They donāt take deposits, donāt make loans, and donāt provide FDIC deposit insurance. The exact wording in Bastionās decision letter says so. What it grants is the part that the crypto industry actually wants: stablecoin custody, white-label issuance, wallets, minting and redemptions, fiat exchanges, and settlement and clearing.
The advantage lies in the license itself. Bastion only filed its conversion application on March 30; before that, it had only a single New York state trust charter. After switching to a federal charter, it doesnāt have to apply for permissions across all 50 states one by oneāone charter covers the entire U.S. Thatās the real reason these companies are lining up.
None of these three came easily. Bastion was founded in 2023 by two former a16z crypto executives. Seed round: $14.6 million, led by Coinbase Ventures, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund and Samsung Next. Last year, it bought Dibbs Trust Company to obtain the New York license, and also did stablecoin business with Sonyās bank. Catena is a new company by Circle co-founder Sean Neville, focusing on compliance rails for AI agents to spend money; it raised $30 million in May. Agora issued the U.S. dollar stablecoin AUSD, and in June brought in the former head of crypto business at Robinhood.
This is a long queue. On December 12 last year, the OCC approved three companies in one day: BitGo, Ripple, and First National Digital Currency Bank. This February 12: Bridge. February 20: Foris DAX. July 8: Sony. August 14: World Liberty Financial. On September 11, Block filed an application, and on the 12th, Zerohash followed. With 40 applications accumulated over 18 months, there are still 13 more in the public list waiting in line. Up to now, only one company has received final approval and can open its doorsāCircle, on July 10.
Thereās also a deadline overhead. The GENIUS Actās effective date is locked to January 18, 2027ānothing can change it. Six major institutions missed the rule cutoff on July 18, and so far only issued a notice of proposed rulemaking. OCC chief Jonathan Gould promised on August 19 that the final rules would be out in November, and that applications for the payment stablecoin issuer license would start being accepted in early 2027. Last week, the CLARITY Act failed in the Senate 50ā49, blocking the legislative route for now. For stablecoins at the federal level, the only pathway lies with the OCC.
On the market side, thereās not much happening. When I wrote this, the four BTC quote sources were between 81,209 and 81,246, up 0.1% over 24 hours. On September 18, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $433 millionāFidelity alone $310.7 million, BlackRock $108.4 million. But for this week, the total adds up to only $6.1 million, basically for nothing. The infrastructure is being laid, but the money hasnāt arrived.
My take. In this round of stablecoin competition, the ticket is the licenseāand the tickets are limited. Up to now, only one license has been issued with final approval. The real business is in the back office: issuance, custody, and clearingāless about the relationship with coin prices.
Watch two things. How the OCCās final rules in November are writtenāespecially the language on issuerās own reserves and custody account allocation. And, besides Circle, which company will be the second to receive final approval and be allowed to open.
$BTC
#äøę¬čŖå½é ē¤¾åŗBaoluoåøåčµę¬ #Bitcoin #ēسå®åøēē §
On September 18, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved three trust bank charters in the same day. The decisions are all posted on the official website. Bastion converted from a New York state trust company into Bastion Platforms National Trust Company, charter number 27198. Catena Trust Bank is 27214, and Agora National Trust Bank is 27207āboth newly established.
First, be clear about what these three licenses *donāt* do. They donāt take deposits, donāt make loans, and donāt provide FDIC deposit insurance. The exact wording in Bastionās decision letter says so. What it grants is the part that the crypto industry actually wants: stablecoin custody, white-label issuance, wallets, minting and redemptions, fiat exchanges, and settlement and clearing.
The advantage lies in the license itself. Bastion only filed its conversion application on March 30; before that, it had only a single New York state trust charter. After switching to a federal charter, it doesnāt have to apply for permissions across all 50 states one by oneāone charter covers the entire U.S. Thatās the real reason these companies are lining up.
None of these three came easily. Bastion was founded in 2023 by two former a16z crypto executives. Seed round: $14.6 million, led by Coinbase Ventures, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund and Samsung Next. Last year, it bought Dibbs Trust Company to obtain the New York license, and also did stablecoin business with Sonyās bank. Catena is a new company by Circle co-founder Sean Neville, focusing on compliance rails for AI agents to spend money; it raised $30 million in May. Agora issued the U.S. dollar stablecoin AUSD, and in June brought in the former head of crypto business at Robinhood.
This is a long queue. On December 12 last year, the OCC approved three companies in one day: BitGo, Ripple, and First National Digital Currency Bank. This February 12: Bridge. February 20: Foris DAX. July 8: Sony. August 14: World Liberty Financial. On September 11, Block filed an application, and on the 12th, Zerohash followed. With 40 applications accumulated over 18 months, there are still 13 more in the public list waiting in line. Up to now, only one company has received final approval and can open its doorsāCircle, on July 10.
Thereās also a deadline overhead. The GENIUS Actās effective date is locked to January 18, 2027ānothing can change it. Six major institutions missed the rule cutoff on July 18, and so far only issued a notice of proposed rulemaking. OCC chief Jonathan Gould promised on August 19 that the final rules would be out in November, and that applications for the payment stablecoin issuer license would start being accepted in early 2027. Last week, the CLARITY Act failed in the Senate 50ā49, blocking the legislative route for now. For stablecoins at the federal level, the only pathway lies with the OCC.
On the market side, thereās not much happening. When I wrote this, the four BTC quote sources were between 81,209 and 81,246, up 0.1% over 24 hours. On September 18, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $433 millionāFidelity alone $310.7 million, BlackRock $108.4 million. But for this week, the total adds up to only $6.1 million, basically for nothing. The infrastructure is being laid, but the money hasnāt arrived.
My take. In this round of stablecoin competition, the ticket is the licenseāand the tickets are limited. Up to now, only one license has been issued with final approval. The real business is in the back office: issuance, custody, and clearingāless about the relationship with coin prices.
Watch two things. How the OCCās final rules in November are writtenāespecially the language on issuerās own reserves and custody account allocation. And, besides Circle, which company will be the second to receive final approval and be allowed to open.
$BTC
#äøę¬čŖå½é ē¤¾åŗBaoluoåøåčµę¬ #Bitcoin #ēسå®åøēē §
