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.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based 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, delivered through a full-service banking-as-a-service platform. The banking-as-a-service model would let fintechs and other partners access these blockchain-based banking functions without building their own regulated infrastructure.

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 stablecoin subsidiary would position OpenReserve under the federal framework established by the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin legislation signed into law in July 2025, which set reserve, disclosure, and licensing requirements for payment stablecoin issuers.

The proposed Bank, through its subsidiary, will offer, in a nonfiduciary capacity, custody services for digital assets, including hosting wallets and 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). A preliminary OCC approval, also known as a notice of conditional approval, means the charter is not yet final: the applicant must satisfy the stated conditions before opening for business.

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. In addition, the Bank will hold an amount of digital assets on its balance sheet that it expects will be 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 decision 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. It also reflects a broader shift at the OCC, which in recent years has moved from restrictive guidance toward interpretive letters and charter approvals that permit national banks to engage in crypto custody, intermediary activities, and on-chain payment operations.

What to watch next includes whether OpenReserve files the application for its stablecoin subsidiary, whether it secures deposit insurance and satisfies the remaining OCC conditions, and how the banking industry responds — the U.S. banking lobby has already weighed legal action against the OCC over its crypto charter activities.

Related coverage:

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Clears National Banks to Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions
• Minnesota State Signs Law Permitting Banks, Credit Unions to Offer Crypto Custody Services
• Staking Now Generating 60% of Revenue for Ethereum Treasury Firms, Says EverStake
• U.S. Banking Lobby Weighs Lawsuit Against OCC Over Crypto Trust Charters

Source: BitcoinKE