Stripe-owned stablecoin platform Bridge wins conditional OCC approval for national bank charter

Stablecoin platform Bridge, acquired by Stripe last year, has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to later become a federally chartered national bank — joining a growing list of crypto firms seeking federal oversight.

If finalized, the new charter would allow Bridge to custody crypto, issue stablecoins and manage stablecoin reserves. This approval positions Bridge to help enterprises, fintechs, crypto businesses, and financial institutions build with digital dollars within a clear federal framework, the platform said on Tuesday in a statement. 

Bridge follows several crypto firms seeking to become federally regulated trusted banks, including Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos — all of which received conditional approval from the OCC in December.

The wave of approvals comes amid a friendlier presidential administration to the crypto industry.

Anchorage Digital Bank has since been the only crypto firm to receive a national trust charter back in 2021. 

On Tuesday, Bridge said its compliance framework positions it to be ready to align with a new stablecoin law called the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS for short. President Donald Trump signed that bill into law last year, and federal regulators are working to implement rules. 

"Now achieving a national trust bank charter will provide our customers the regulatory backbone they need to build with stablecoins confidently and at scale," Bridge said.