What exactly happened?
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC, the US federal banking regulator that oversees national banks) has granted OpenReserve preliminary approval to establish a national bank in the US. CoinDesk, The Block, Cointelegraph, and Decrypt all reported on this around the turn of August and September 2026.
This is what is known as a conditional charter, meaning an initial approval rather than a full license to begin operations. According to CoinDesk, this puts OpenReserve among a growing circle of crypto-native institutions pursuing a federal banking license.
The startup is backed by investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). According to The Block, OpenReserve Holdings received preliminary approval for a bank focused on onchain settlement (settlement directly on the blockchain), following a 25 million dollar seed round.
Why does choosing a full charter matter?
This is the heart of the story. Most crypto firms that have pushed into regulated banking chose the route of a so-called trust bank (trust charter), a narrower license oriented primarily toward custody and asset management.
According to Decrypt, OpenReserve took a different path: a full national charter. That opens the door to insured deposits and traditional lending alongside stablecoin issuance. In other words, the goal is not just to hold client assets but to operate as an ordinary bank that also runs onchain.
The difference between the two models can be simplified as follows:
| Model | Typical scope | Who usually chooses it |
|---|---|---|
| Trust charter | Custody, asset management | Most crypto firms so far |
| Full national charter | Deposits, loans, stablecoin issuance | The route chosen by OpenReserve |
What does OpenReserve plan to do?
According to available sources, the bank is set to focus on onchain settlement and services tied to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Decrypt notes that the model envisions stablecoin issuance in parallel with conventional banking.
OpenReserve is not alone in this. Cointelegraph points out that in the same wave, Revolut also received preliminary OCC approval to establish a US national bank, with both companies planning services linked to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
What do we not yet know?
It is important to separate what is confirmed from what is not. Preliminary approval is not the same as a live operation. The sources do not indicate a specific date when the bank will actually open, nor what additional conditions OpenReserve must meet before final approval.
The available materials also do not clearly spell out details about deposit insurance (for example, whether and when it will obtain FDIC insurance), the exact structure of the products, or the names of the leadership. These points remain open for now.
What to watch out for with this type of news?
With preliminary regulatory approvals, it is common for many months to pass between an "initial approval" and an "actually functioning bank," and the company must meet additional conditions. A headline about approval does not mean clients can already open an account.
Charliedesk will track whether and when OpenReserve obtains final approval and begins operations, and whether it actually offers insured deposits and lending, as the choice of a full charter suggests. That is a verifiable matter we can return to later.