Catenaa, Thursday, September 10, 2026- OpenReserve has received preliminary conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a full-service insured national bank in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The OCC granted the approval Sept. 2 but said OpenReserve cannot begin banking operations until it meets preopening conditions and receives final authorization.
Unlike national trust bank charters granted to several crypto companies, OpenReserve is seeking a full-service national bank charter.
That would allow the proposed OpenReserve Bank, National Association, to accept deposits and make loans alongside payments, treasury and digital-asset services.
The OCC said OpenReserve must raise at least $210 million in paid-in capital after organizational and preopening expenses.
The proposed bank must also maintain a Tier 1 leverage ratio of at least 12% during its first three years.
OpenReserve plans to offer tokenized capabilities across its deposit products, digital-asset custody, foreign correspondent banking and banking-as-a-service products.
The bank also intends to establish a wholly owned subsidiary to issue, custody, convert and process payments involving US dollar-denominated reserve-backed stablecoins.
The OCC said OpenReserve has not yet filed the separate application required for that subsidiary.
OpenReserve also plans to custody cryptocurrencies and other digital assets for customers.
Its proposed banking model would allow customers to use digital assets, including stablecoins, for cross-border remittances.
The bank could receive digital assets as transaction fees but would generally convert them into fiat currency within one business day. It could retain limited amounts needed for blockchain transaction fees.
OpenReserve was founded in 2025 by Diwakar Choubey and Richard Correia.
The company previously raised $25 million in a seed round led by a16z crypto, with Coinbase Ventures, Jump Capital, Wintermute Ventures and other investors participating.
OpenReserve must obtain Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deposit insurance and apply for Federal Reserve Bank stock before opening.
The OCC can also modify, suspend or withdraw its preliminary approval before the bank begins operations.
The approval will expire if OpenReserve fails to raise its required capital within 12 months or does not open within 18 months.
The OCC has increasingly opened federal banking pathways to companies built around digital assets. Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, Paxos and BitGo have received conditional approvals for national trust bank charters, which differ from full-service commercial banks because their activities are generally narrower.
OpenReserve’s proposal goes further by combining conventional deposit-taking and lending with blockchain-based settlement, custody and tokenized deposits.
The OCC’s approval therefore places OpenReserve closer to becoming a federally supervised commercial bank rather than simply a crypto custody institution.
The project would still face continuing OCC supervision, FDIC requirements and conditions governing its digital-asset and planned stablecoin activities before it can begin serving customers.
