The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given a blockchain-focused startup called OpenReserve an initial green light to operate as a bank, according to CoinDesk. The regulator granted the firm a provisional charter for a full-service bank, a step that CoinDesk described as adding OpenReserve to a growing mix of crypto-native institutions now seeking a place inside the regulated U.S. banking system.
A national bank charter from the OCC is the federal license that allows an institution to operate as a national bank rather than relying on state-level authorizations or on partnerships with existing chartered banks. Approvals of this kind are typically granted in stages: an initial or provisional approval signals that the regulator is satisfied with the applicant's business plan, capital arrangements and management, but the institution generally still has to meet a set of conditions before it can open its doors and begin taking on customers. Details of the specific conditions attached to OpenReserve's approval were not spelled out in the report reviewed for this article, and the company's launch timeline has not been confirmed.
The significance of the move lies less in the individual firm than in the pattern it fits. For much of the past several years, crypto companies in the United States operated largely outside the chartered banking perimeter, often depending on a small number of partner banks for dollar access. A charter, by contrast, would place a crypto-native business directly under federal prudential supervision, with the examination, capital and compliance obligations that come with it. CoinDesk framed the OpenReserve approval as part of an expanding group of such institutions rather than a one-off event.
Other developments reported the same day point in a similar direction. CoinDesk also reported that Kraken is joining SoFi's settlement network and will list SoFiUSD, a tie-up the outlet characterized as crypto and banking pushing into each other's territory. Separately, Standard Chartered has begun offering institutional spot crypto trading in Dubai, routing bitcoin and ether through the same electronic foreign-exchange infrastructure institutions already use for currencies.
The regulatory backdrop is also shifting. Bitcoin.com reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will host a roundtable on September 17 focused on 24-hour trading, with participants including BlackRock, Citadel and the New York Stock Exchange, as crypto's always-on markets press traditional venues to consider longer hours. On the derivatives side, CoinDesk reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by CME over crypto perpetual futures, a case that touches on how a product long common on offshore crypto exchanges should be treated in U.S. markets.
Taken together, these items describe a period in which the boundary between conventional financial institutions and crypto firms is being negotiated in both directions: crypto businesses applying for bank charters and settlement access, and established banks, exchanges and asset managers taking on crypto products and crypto-style trading hours.
Several caveats are worth noting. A provisional charter is not the same as an operating bank, and initial approvals can lapse or be withdrawn if conditions are not met. No detail is available here on OpenReserve's ownership, funding or intended customer base. Regulatory decisions of this type concern the structure of financial infrastructure and should not be read as an indicator of the future direction of any asset's price.
This is a news summary for general information only — not financial advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset. Always verify against the original source and do your own research before making a financial decision.
Source: CoinDesk · 2026-09-04
