OpenReserve, a banking startup founded by former MoneyLion executives, has secured preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national bank charter, a significant step toward building a federally regulated banking platform on blockchain infrastructure. The OCC, an independent bureau within the U.S. Treasury Department, charters and supervises national banks, and its approval is required for any company seeking to operate a nationally licensed bank.

The approval remains conditional. Before proceeding with the charter, OpenReserve must still obtain Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance through a pending application. FDIC insurance is a standard prerequisite for newly chartered banks accepting deposits, as it protects customer funds up to applicable limits. The company also plans to operate without traditional physical bank branches, delivering services entirely through digital infrastructure.

OpenReserve is developing a federally licensed bank designed to run around the clock on blockchain rails, combining digital-asset services with traditional banking capabilities.

In April, the company raised $25 million in a seed round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Jump Capital, Acrew, Coinbase Ventures, Clocktower, Quona, and AAAF Management. OpenReserve has not disclosed its post-financing valuation.

Stablecoin and Tokenized Deposits on the Roadmap

A central element of OpenReserve's strategy is issuing its own stablecoin. The OCC's preliminary approval creates a regulatory pathway for the bank to issue the dollar-linked digital asset, which Chief Executive Officer Dee Choubey said would be designed to support transactions and settlement outside conventional banking hours.

The proposed system targets limitations of traditional banking infrastructure, notably the periods when the Federal Reserve's payment and settlement window is closed. By using blockchain rails, OpenReserve aims to enable continuous money movement and settlement rather than restricting activity to standard banking schedules.

The company also plans to tokenize deposits, allowing customers to move and settle funds on-chain. In addition, OpenReserve intends to accept other stablecoins as collateral, subject to compliance with the GENIUS Act framework. The GENIUS Act, a federal stablecoin law signed in 2025, establishes reserve, licensing, and oversight requirements for payment stablecoin issuers in the United States.

The strategy could position the startup as infrastructure connecting traditional U.S. dollar banking with digital assets. Its proposed services are expected to cover access to dollars, fiat currency, stablecoins, and U.S. Treasury-related capabilities, giving businesses a broader toolkit for managing and transferring dollar-denominated assets.

Regulatory Framework at the Core of Strategy

OpenReserve President and co-founder Richard Correia previously served as president and chief financial officer at MoneyLion, with prior experience at Merrill Lynch and Citadel. Correia has said that establishing the company within a defined regulatory framework from the outset is central to its approach. The startup plans to operate as a regulated bank and broker-dealer while maintaining a clearly defined structure governing its stablecoin.

See more of what we are building: — OpenReserve (@OpenReserveBank) September 3, 2026

The company frames regulatory oversight, banking authorization, and a defined stablecoin framework as key pillars of its compliance and trust strategy. This approach reflects a broader push by fintech and cryptocurrency-related companies to gain direct access to regulated U.S. banking infrastructure. A national charter could give OpenReserve a foundation for expanding financial services under federal supervision.

Growing Competition for U.S. Bank Charters

OpenReserve's application comes as several fintech and digital-asset companies pursue U.S. banking licenses. Nu Holdings recently received preliminary OCC approval for a national bank charter, while Revolut disclosed conditional approval in the same week. A cryptocurrency venture associated with the Trump family has also received preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter.

These developments point to growing interest in combining regulated banking operations with blockchain-based financial infrastructure. For OpenReserve, the next major milestone remains obtaining FDIC insurance and satisfying the conditions attached to its preliminary OCC approval. If those requirements are met, the company could advance its plan to provide continuous, blockchain-based dollar infrastructure to businesses without a conventional branch network.