Bridge, the stablecoin platform owned by payments firm
Stripe, was awarded a conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency (OCC) to organize a federally chartered national trust bank.
The move would place Bridge under direct federal
oversight for its stablecoin and digital asset services at a time when US
policymakers still debate how to regulate digital dollars.
Once fully approved, the charter will allow Bridge to
offer businesses custody of digital assets, issue and manage stablecoins, and
oversee the reserves backing those tokens.
What the OCC Charter Would Allow Bridge to Do
The company presents fully reserved and transparently
managed stablecoins as infrastructure for faster global settlement, treasury
operations, cross-border payments and tokenized asset markets.
Bridge says its compliance framework already aligns
with the federal GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law signed in July 2025. It argues
that a national trust bank charter will give customers a clearer regulatory
structure and support large-scale use of stablecoins within the US financial
system.
The single federal charter would also let Bridge
operate nationwide without relying on multiple state-level licenses. Bridge is part of a broader group of digital asset
firms seeking similar treatment from the OCC.
Continue reading: Stripe Strikes Biggest Ever Crypto Deal: TechCrunch Founder Confirms Bridge Acquisition
In December, the regulator
conditionally approved BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos to convert
their state trust companies into national trusts, and granted preliminary
national trust bank charters to Circle and Ripple.
A Growing List of OCC-Approved Crypto Trusts
OCC records show that Bridge applied for its charter
in October and received conditional approval on 12 February. Stripe acquired
Bridge in 2025 in a deal worth about 1.1 billion dollars to help support
stablecoin-based payments across its network. The expansion of crypto-focused national trust banks
has drawn resistance from parts of the traditional banking sector.
In a recent
letter, the American Bankers Association urged the OCC to slow approvals for
such charters, warning that companies could use them to avoid stricter
oversight while rules under the GENIUS Act remain unsettled. The decision on Bridge comes as US lawmakers in the
Senate advance broader digital asset market structure legislation.
In 2024, Stripe completed its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, a fintech startup specializing in stablecoin-based money transfers using tokens such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. The $1.1 billion price tag made it one of the largest acquisitions in the cryptocurrency sector at the time.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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