US Regulator Approves Stablecoin Banks with Robot Customers

The US Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) continues to approve national trust bank charters for crypto infrastructure firms, including Bastion and Agora. These banks will offer stablecoin custody & wallets, payment infrastructure, and white-label issuance.

Bastion Platforms National Trust Company, which includes Sony Bank as a client, received conditional approval on September 18. Its new bank must maintain a minimum of $6 million in tier 1 capital, with at least half held in eligible liquid assets for its first three years of operation.

Agora's Agora National Trust Bank also received conditional approval and plans to transition AUSD issuance from its Agora Bermuda offshoot to the new New York-based bank. The bank will be required to maintain a minimum of $10 million in Tier 1 capital, with 50% of which must be in eligible liquid assets.

The most interesting OCC approval went to Catena Labs and its Catena Trust Bank, described as 'a governance and banking platform for AI agents.' This new bank will take responsibility for how customer assets are held and managed, alongside the controls on how agents use them.