Catenaa, Thursday, September 24, 2026- The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved three national trust bank applications tied to stablecoins, digital asset custody and financial infrastructure for artificial intelligence agents.
The regulator granted preliminary approval to Agora National Trust Bank and Catena Trust Bank, while approving Bastion Platforms Trust Company’s conversion from a New York state trust company into a national trust bank.
The approvals are not final.
Agora and Catena must meet preopening requirements before they can begin operating, while the OCC retains authority to modify or withdraw the approvals if conditions are not met.
Catena Trust Bank will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Catena Labs.
Its proposed services include custody, investment management, trust services, conversion, clearing and execution involving fiat currencies, securities and digital assets.
The company is also developing infrastructure specifically for AI agents.
Catena says its system is designed to give software agents verified identities, financial accounts and payment capabilities while allowing human operators to set spending limits, restrict counterparties and halt activity.
The company has positioned policy enforcement and audit trails as central features rather than additions to traditional banking systems.
Agora National Trust Bank will be owned by Agora Atlas Corp.
Its planned activities include dollar-backed stablecoin issuance, reserve management, digital asset custody, payment processing, cross-border settlement and programmable payment flows.
Agora also plans to move issuance of its AUSD stablecoin from its Bermuda entity to the US trust bank after the new institution is established.
Bastion, meanwhile, received approval to convert into Bastion Platforms National Trust Company.
The company plans to offer white-label stablecoin issuance, custodial wallets, conversion services and infrastructure for other regulated stablecoin issuers.
The bank will not accept deposits and will not have Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage.
The approvals come during a sharp increase in applications for new US bank charters.
The OCC said in August that it had received 40 de novo charter applications during the previous 18 months, with 23 involving some form of digital asset activity. ([OCC.gov][2])
That activity reflects a broader shift among crypto and fintech companies toward federal banking supervision as stablecoins and tokenized financial services become more closely linked to traditional finance.
The September approvals also extend that trend beyond crypto custody.
Catena’s application introduces a new element: banking infrastructure built specifically around autonomous software agents that may eventually hold funds, initiate payments and manage financial activity within human-defined rules.
