US Treasury’s OCC Approves First Crypto Bank, Bitcoin Jumps above $38,000

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bureau within the US Treasury Department, announced yesterday that it has granted conditional approval to Anchorage Trust Company to become Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US. Bitcoin reacted positively to the recent announcement, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency jumped above $38,000.

According to the official announcement, the company received the national trust bank charter from the OCC after a comprehensive review of its operations. Additionally, Anchorage has signed an operating agreement to comply with the capital and liquidity requirements of the OCC along with a proper risk management structure.

“In granting this charter, the OCC applied the same rigorous review and standards 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. At the same time, the Anchorage approval demonstrates that the national bank charters were provided. under the National Bank Act are broad and flexible enough to accommodate evolving approaches to financial services in the 21st century,” the OCC mentioned.

Anchorage Crypto Bank

Anchorage is a digital asset platform that provides different services including crypto custody, trading and staking. In 2019, the leading financial services firm, Visa co-led Anchorage’s $40 million funding round.

“Having a national bank charter places Anchorage Digital Bank firmly on the same regulatory footing as other national banks in the country. Most immediately, 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,” Anchorage mentioned in the official announcement.

The recent announcement by the OCC is a significant milestone for the crypto market because the approval means that the US authorities are open to test new technologies like digital assets. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies posted strong gains following the news as BTC is currently trading near $38,000. The overall market cap of digital currencies jumped above $1 trillion on Thursday.

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