- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a conditional approval to Anchorage Digital Bank.
- This makes Anchorage Hold LLC the first approved crypto digital bank
- A license from the OCC places Anchorage on the same level as other banks in the United States.
Anchorage, a cryptocurrency custodian has conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust charter. This officially makes Anchorage the first national “digital asset bank” in the U.S. with approval.
The approval was made public by the federally chartered crypto bank via its Twitter handle. Anchorage Tweeted; Crypto deserves a bank, and we are immensely proud of being approved as the one to set the standard.
What is Anchorage?
Anchorage Hold LLC is a platform that offers custody, trading, and staking of digital assets. Anchorage was founded in 2017, and in 2019, the leading financial services firm, Visa co-led Anchorage’s $40 million funding round.
Sponsored
Post-approval, Anchorage Hold LLC is now officially known as the National Association of Anchorage Digital Bank.
On the Flipside
- Following the lawsuit filed against Ripple by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulatory woes of the digital assets have increased.
- The Financial Services Agency of Japan, and the Treasury of the United Kingdom have publicly denounced the XRP tokens as being a security.
- This contradicts the stance of the U.S. SEC and the issuers of the XRP tokens, Ripple LLC.
What does the License Mean?
The OCC said that in awarding the national trust bank charter to Anchorage, the regulators applied rigorous review and the same standards applicable to all charter applications.
In addition to the charter, Anchorage has signed an operating agreement to comply with the capital and liquidity requirements of the OCC along with a proper risk management structure.
A license of this nature places Anchorage Digital Bank firmly on the same regulatory footing as other American national banks in the country. It is also the first of its kind offered to a crypto bank.
The OCC mentions in its press release:
By bringing this applicant into the federal banking system, the bank and industry will benefit from the OCC’s extensive supervisory experience and expertise. At the same time, the Anchorage approval demonstrates that the national bank charters were provided. under the National Bank Act are broad and flexible enough to accommodate evolving approaches to financial services in the 21st century.
One major benefit of a national charter is that it allows a business to operate in the 50 states without needing to apply for 49 state money transmitter licenses piecemeal. Anchorage now has the right to that.
Although Anchorage does not seek to set up physical offices in the local environment, the charter license allows the company to provide the same services as traditional banks such as trading and loans.
The Future of Anchorage
According to Nathan McCauley, the co-founder of Anchorage, the charter would force hundreds of banks to partner with Anchorage to join the cryptocurrency boom.
McCauley notes that Anchorage welcomes all kinds of people to come to the table, even those who were reluctant to come. The company, in his opinion, represents a massive change in the availability of crypto assets.
