Bastion Secures OCC Approval for National Trust Bank Charter

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted Bastion Platforms Trust Company a conditional banking license approval to convert its New York state trust charter into a national trust bank charter. This decision, issued on September 18, makes Bastion one of a small but growing cohort of digital asset firms operating under direct federal banking oversight.

The new charter, designated OCC Charter #27198, will allow the company to operate as Bastion Platforms National Trust Company. This is a significant upgrade from the state-level trust license the firm has been running on, essentially giving Bastion a single federal key instead of needing to collect different keys for every state it wants to operate in.

The OCC's authorization covers a specific set of services tailored to stablecoin infrastructure, including fiduciary custody, white-label stablecoin issuance, wallet solutions, payments, minting, redemption, and fiat conversions involving compliant digital assets like USDC. Notably, Bastion won't be taking deposits, and it won't carry FDIC insurance.

CEO Nassim Eddequiouaq has framed the federal charter as a tool for serving major financial players looking to launch stablecoin-related products. The firm was founded in 2023 by two former executives from Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm and has since accumulated various state money transmitter licenses.