Key facts
- Revolut and OpenReserve have received preliminary conditional approval from the OCC to establish national banks in the US.
- OpenReserve must raise at least $210 million in initial paid-in capital and maintain a 12% Tier 1 leverage ratio for three years.
- OpenReserve plans to offer traditional banking services, tokenized deposits, and digital asset custody.
- Revolut plans to offer digital asset custody and enable crypto and stablecoin use for cross-border transfers.
- Both companies aim to integrate cryptocurrency and stablecoin-related services into their banking operations.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary conditional approval to Revolut and OpenReserve to charter national banks in the United States, a move that signals a significant step towards integrating digital assets into the traditional banking system. OpenReserve, a blockchain-native fintech startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz and other venture capital firms, received its approval on September 2 to establish a full-service national bank in Salt Lake City, Utah. This approval follows a review period of less than five months since the company filed its application.
To proceed, OpenReserve must raise at least $210 million in initial paid-in capital and maintain a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 12% for its first three years of operation. The company plans to offer traditional banking services, including tokenized deposits and treasury management, and intends to establish a separate subsidiary for issuing U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins, though this subsidiary has not yet filed its own OCC application.
Revolut also received preliminary conditional approval from the OCC for a national bank charter, to be based in Connecticut. This approval is part of a broader OCC initiative to bring firms working with novel technologies into the federally supervised banking system. Revolut aims to leverage its own US bank to offer digital asset custody and allow customers to use cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for cross-border transfers more efficiently and at a lower cost. The OCC's decision letter for OpenReserve specifies deadlines: 12 months to raise the capital and 18 months to open for business, with the preliminary approval expiring if these are missed. The company has until September 2027 to raise the capital and March 2028 to open.