The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bureau within the US Treasury Department, announced that it granted its first conditional approval to Anchorage Trust Company to become Anchorage Digital Bank. Anchorage has become the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. Bitcoin reacted positively to the recent announcement, as the world’s leading cryptocurrency jumped above $38,000. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is trading at just above $38,500.
Anchorage received the national trust bank charter after a comprehensive review of its operations.
According to the official announcement, the company received the national trust bank charter from the US Treasury’s department OCC after a comprehensive review of its operations. Additionally, Anchorage has signed an operating agreement to comply with the OCC’s capital and liquidity requirements along with a proper risk management structure. “In granting this national charter, the OCC applied the same rigorous review and measures applied to all charter applications. By bringing this applicant into the federal banking system, the bank and industry will benefit from the OCC’s extensive supervisory experience and expertise,” the OCC noted in the announcement.
The digital bank will provide crypto custody, trading, and staking services.
Anchorage is a digital asset platform that provides different crypto services, including crypto custody, trading, and staking. In 2019, the leading financial services firm, Visa, co-led Anchorage’s $40 million funding round. Anchorage noted in its official announcement that having a national bank charter places them firmly on the same regulatory footing as other national banks in the country. It puts first-of-its-kind, sub-custody services within reach for any traditional financial institution that wishes to give its clients access to digital assets, the bank added. Bitcoin reacted positively to the news as its price jumped over $38,000. The overall market cap of the entire crypto market jumped above $1 trillion on Thursday.
