OpenReserve Bank received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on September 3 for a national bank charter, making it one of the first blockchain-native institutions to clear the OCC application process. The Salt Lake City-based company filed its charter application in April 2026 and received the OCC decision in under five months, a timeline that signals the regulator is moving faster on crypto-related banking applications than it has historically. The approval is preliminary, meaning OpenReserve must meet additional conditions before receiving a permanent charter. The bank plans to offer treasury management, stablecoin issuance, and tokenized deposit services to institutional clients, with settlement built on blockchain infrastructure from day one. OpenReserve is backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which invested in the company earlier in 2026. The investor roster also includes several crypto-focused venture funds that saw the bank charter as a way to build regulated on-ramps for institutional capital. The OCC decision, published on September 3, noted that OpenReserve plans to form a wholly owned subsidiary for issuing, holding, converting, and processing U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins. That subsidiary application has not yet been filed separately.
What the Charter Covers
The OCC charter, once finalized, would let OpenReserve operate as a full-service national bank. That means it can accept deposits, make loans, issue payment instruments, and engage in other bank-permissible activities. The stablecoin component is the most notable part of the application. Unlike Tether or Circle, which issue stablecoins through non-bank entities, OpenReserve would issue its tokens directly inside a chartered banking entity subject to federal supervision. The OCC specifically cited Interpretive Letter 1174 from January 2021, which confirmed that national banks may use stablecoins to facilitate payment transactions on independent node verification networks, including by issuing a stablecoin and exchanging it for fiat currency. That guidance gave the legal foundation for banks to enter the stablecoin market, but few have actually done so. SoFi received OCC approval for its stablecoin subsidiary on the same day as the OpenReserve announcement, and both approvals come as the GENIUS Act implementation approaches its January 2027 deadline. The regulatory environment has shifted substantially in the past two years. The OCC under the current administration has been more receptive to crypto-banking applications than its predecessor, which had effectively frozen new charter reviews for digital asset firms during 2022 and 2023. The OCC has now approved or provisionally approved charters for roughly a dozen crypto-related entities, though most are trust companies with narrower permissions rather than full-service banks.
Tokenized Deposits and 24/7 Banking
OpenReserve plans to tokenize customer deposits, meaning that account balances would be represented on a blockchain rather than only in the bank traditional ledger. Tokenized deposits differ from stablecoins in important ways. A stablecoin is a standalone token that anyone can hold and transfer. A tokenized deposit is a representation of a bank balance that remains subject to the bank relationship and associated regulations. The tokenized deposit model has gained traction among traditional banks that want blockchain settlement without issuing a separate stablecoin. JPMorgan has explored tokenized deposits through its Onyx platform. Several European banks are testing the concept under the EU MiCA framework. OpenReserve is taking the opposite approach by building both a stablecoin and tokenized deposits into the same bank from the start. The bank also plans to operate around the clock, with settlement running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Traditional banks process payments in batches during business hours and batch settlement windows. OpenReserve is designed around continuous settlement, which aligns with how crypto markets already operate but remains unusual for chartered banks. The founders, Dee Choubey and Rick Correia, have backgrounds in both traditional finance and crypto infrastructure. Choubey previously worked in institutional banking, while Correia built payment systems for crypto exchanges. The combination positions the bank to serve clients who need both regulatory compliance and crypto-native functionality.
Regulatory Context
The OCC has preliminarily approved charters for a growing number of crypto-related institutions, mostly trust companies and special-purpose entities. OpenReserve is notable because it is seeking a full-service national bank charter, which carries higher regulatory requirements but also broader permissions. The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, created a federal framework for stablecoin issuance and requires all stablecoin issuers operating in the U.S. to hold appropriate licenses by January 2027. The law mandates one-to-one reserve backing, monthly attestations, and prohibits payment of interest or yield on stablecoin balances. For OpenReserve, the bank charter provides a direct path to GENIUS Act compliance without needing a separate state or federal stablecoin license. The company said it designed its operations around the GENIUS Act requirements from the beginning, rather than retrofitting an existing business to meet new rules. The OCC decision also addressed residency requirements. OpenReserve requested a waiver of the requirement that bank directors and officers reside in the bank home state. The OCC granted the waiver, noting that the bank digital-first model reduces the need for physical presence in Utah. That precedent could matter for other fintech companies seeking bank charters in states where they have limited physical operations. The broader trend is clear. Regulators who spent 2022 and 2023 restricting crypto-banking activity are now approving charters at a faster pace. The OCC, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve have all issued guidance or made decisions in 2026 that open pathways for digital asset companies to operate within the traditional banking system. OpenReserve is the latest test case for whether blockchain-native banks can meet the same standards as their conventional counterparts.
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