REGULATION | OpenReserve Gets Preliminary OCC Approval for a U.S. Blockchain Bank
OpenReserve, a blockchain financial institution backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Jump Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Wintermute Ventures among others, has received preliminary approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national bank.
REGULATION | The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Clears National Banks to Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions
The Salt Lake City, Utah company plans to build banking services around blockchain infrastructure, including on-chain settlement, treasury management, digital asset services, foreign correspondent banking, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits through a full-service banking-as-a-service platform.
REGULATION | Minnesota State Signs Law Permitting Banks, Credit Unions to Offer Crypto Custody Services
According to the OCC: “The Bank plans to form a wholly-owned stablecoin subsidiary to engage in issuance, custody, conversion, and payment of U.S. dollar-denominated reserve-backed stablecoins. An application for the subsidiary has not yet been filed.”
The proposed Bank, through its subsidiary, will offer, in a nonfiduciary capacity, custody services for digital assets (e.g., hosting wallets, custodying cryptocurrencies). The OCC has previously concluded that providing custody services, including cryptocurrency custody services, is a permissible activity for a national bank as part of or incidental to the business of banking under 12 USC 24 (Seventh). The proposed Bank will receive digital assets as fees after it deducts its fees from the trade, staking reward, or transfer amount for customer transactions.
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In addition, the Bank will also hold an amount of digital assets on its balance sheet it expects are needed to pay transaction fees for on-chain transactions (commonly referred to as “gas fees”). The OCC has confirmed that national banks may hold, as principal, amounts of digital assets on balance sheet necessary to pay network fees for which the bank anticipates a reasonably foreseeable need. The approval is conditional and OpenReserve must meet regulatory requirements, including securing deposit insurance, before it can begin full banking operations. The move comes as crypto firms increasingly seek direct access to the U.S. banking system, potentially moving on-chain financial services from partnerships with traditional banks into regulated banking infrastructure.
REGULATION | U.S. Banking Lobby Weighs Lawsuit Against OCC Over Crypto Trust Charters
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REGULATION | Thailand Updates Crypto Travel Rule to Include Self-Custodial Wallets
Thailand is tightening oversight of crypto transfers, bringing self-custodial wallets further into the country’s financial compliance regime. The Securities and Exchange Commission said its new ‘Travel Rule for Digital Assets’ will take effect on Feb. 27, 2027. The rules require licensed digital-asset operators to collect and transmit information about the sender and recipient of crypto transfers and conduct due diligence on counterparties. A key change is the treatment of self-custodial wallets where users control their own private keys rather than relying on an exchange or other custodian. Thai crypto operators will have to verify ownership or control of such wallets when customers send or receive digital assets. For transfers of 30,000 Thai baht or more, additional ownership or control checks apply.
Operators will also have to retain transaction information for at least five years and make it available for regulatory examination. The requirements are designed to give authorities greater visibility into crypto flows and reduce the use of regulated platforms for financial crime. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary-General, Pornanong Budsaratragoon, said the rules aim to ‘reduce the risk of digital asset operators being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.’ The move puts Thailand alongside a growing number of jurisdictions implementing the global Travel Rule framework which is intended to make crypto transfers more traceable by requiring identifying information to move with transactions.
REGULATION | UK Crypto Wallet Identification Rules Raise Compliance and Enforcement Risks for Users
For users, the significance is bigger than another exchange compliance check: Transactions between regulated platforms and privately controlled wallets will increasingly require users to prove that they control the wallet receiving or sending the funds.
The rules follow two rounds of public consultation earlier this year and give Thai digital-asset businesses nearly six months to build the systems needed for compliance.
REGULATION | Bank of Thailand Preparing Regulatory Crackdown on Transactions Involving USDT
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