Digital currency service provider firm Anchorage today received a national bank charter from the Office of the Currency Supervisor (OCC).
This makes Anchorage the first statutory digital asset bank in the United States to receive the charter from the OCC.
The issuance of this charter is part of the idea of a "fintech charter" that has been pursued since the Barrack Obama administration and intensified under the administration of OCC chairman Brian Brooks.
It is reported that Anchorage has applied for a charter by the end of 2020 on the grounds that the crypto sector needs sub-custody services which will allow conventional banks to offer Anchorage services to customers.
Although Kraken and Avanti previously received charters from the Wyoming county, in contrast to the OCC-approved charters, Anchorage could conduct business across the U.S. without borders.
While Brooks was criticized for focusing on the crypto sector, the OCC chief expected the DeFi protocol might also be given a federal charter.
Paxos and BitPay also reportedly applied to the OCC to become a national bank. However, the OCC representative did not comment further on the matter.
