Bastion Banks on Trust: OCC Hands Stablecoin Builder a Charter, Minus the Deposits

Stablecoin infrastructure provider Bastion said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary conditional approval for a US trust bank charter, adding federal supervision to the state licenses the company already holds. The announcement came in a news release on Friday. Under the terms of the approval, the proposed bank cannot accept deposits or make loans, distinguishing it from a conventional commercial bank. The entity, to be licensed as Bastion Platforms National Trust Company, will offer stablecoin custody and wallets, payment infrastructure and white-label issuance from a single federally regulated platform.

"Stablecoins have moved from emerging technology into core financial infrastructure, and that requires a different standard of trust, governance and regulatory rigor," said Nassim Eddequiouaq, CEO of Bastion. The company has been working toward federal oversight since acquiring its New York trust charter in February 2025. Cointelegraph reported in September 2025 that Bastion had raised $14.6 million in a funding round led by Coinbase Ventures, with participation from Japanese tech giant Sony, the investment subsidiary of South Korean phone maker Samsung, the crypto arm of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and crypto venture capital firm Hashed.

Bastion is one of several crypto firms pursuing OCC trust charters. Ripple has received conditional approval for a similar charter, while Circle and BitGo have received final approval. Kraken parent Payward, crypto infrastructure provider Zerohash and payments company Block have also submitted applications, according to Cointelegraph. Separately, Block, co-founded by Jack Dorsey, has filed for a US trust bank charter focused on Bitcoin and stablecoin services.