Avanti expects to open its crypto-centric bank in October, details digital asset for payments

Avanti, the startup seeking to launch a crypto-centric bank in Wyoming, is inching closer to its official launch.

The company said Thursday that its application for a bank charter "was accepted as complete on July 15, and that its application timeline has been accelerated," according to a blog post. Avanti, led by Wall Street vet and crypto advocate Caitlin Long, was first unveiled in February and pitched itself as a new banking institution wholly dedicated to crypto-related activities.

The new blog post notably included details about a digital asset called Avit, which Avanti described as "a new product to modernize U.S. dollar payments" that'll be issued by participating banks.

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"Programmable via Avanti's user-friendly API, Avit is designed for use by institutional traders and corporate treasurers when they prefer a real-time payment settlement solution in U.S. dollars that does not suffer from the delayed settlement and chargeback issues of traditional payment solutions, or the legal, accounting and tax issues of stablecoins," the blog post explained.

In comments, Long celebrated Wednesday's announcement from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which opened the door for federally chartered banks to serve as crypto custodians. That announcement, as The Block reported, was widely viewed as a positive development by the industry and is likely to provide the most benefits to small and medium-sized banks. 

"I'm thrilled that the OCC yesterday followed Wyoming in allowing banks to provide custody for digital assets," Long said in the statement. "Wyoming has been developing its digital asset custody initiative for two years and already has a comprehensive framework and supervisory process in place, which does not exist elsewhere."