The U.S. Office of the Currency Controller (OCC) has given conditional approval to crypto custodian Anchorage to launch the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the country.
In a statement on January 13, 2021, the OCC said that the company had received the national trust banking charter, which makes it possible to create Anchorage Digital Bank, after a thorough review of its operations.
With the approval, Anchorage is now expected to meet the OCC’s capital and liquidity requirements and certain risk management procedures. The firm has signed an agreement with the bank regulator to this end.
“By bringing this applicant into the federal banking system, the bank and industry will benefit from the extensive experience and expertise of the OCC,” said the regulator, a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department.
“At the same time, Anchorage’s approval shows that the National Banking Charter under the National Bank Act is broad and flexible enough to accommodate 21st century evolving approaches to financial services,” he added.
Anchorage was founded in 2017 by Nathan McCauley and Diogo Mónica and provides crypto-storage and trading services to institutional investors. The company apparently manages about $ 100 billion in transactions a year.
Anchorage filed a national banking charter last year, hoping, among other things, to make it easier for conventional banks to offer crypto services via what he calls sub-custody with the company.
In a blog post on Wednesday, McCauley and Mónica explained:
If you have a national banking charter, Anchorage places Digital Bank on the same regulatory basis as other national banks in the country. Since our inception, we have been recognized several times that we have blurred the boundaries between crypto and traditional finance. Today we are glad that these lines are starting to fade.
Anchorage becomes the first cryptocurrency entity to receive a federal charter. Last year, however, Kraken and Avanti were both licensed to act as digital asset banks by the state of Wyoming. The state charter allows the duo to become national, but there are limits.
The Anchorage Banking Charter is considered a major development in the growth of the US crypto industry. Under Acting Controller Brian Brooks, the OCC has shown some progress in building the emerging sector. Last year, the regulator allowed banks to use stable coins and public blockchains for settlement. The OCC has also given the green light to US banks to keep stable reserves for issuers.
What do you think of Anchorage’s national banking charter? Let us know in the comments below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for information only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is directly or indirectly responsible for any damage or loss caused or claimed to have been caused by or in connection with the use or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.