Bastion wins OCC approval for national trust bank charter
In brief
- OCC granted Bastion preliminary conditional approval for a US trust bank charter.
- Bastion will offer stablecoin custody, wallets, payment infrastructure, and white-label issuance under federal regulation.
- The proposed bank cannot accept deposits or make loans, unlike conventional commercial banks.
- Bastion raised $14.6 million in September 2025 led by Coinbase Ventures.
- Circle, BitGo, and Ripple have also received trust bank charter approvals.
Conditional Approval Marks Regulatory Milestone
Bastion acquired its New York trust charter in February 2025, and the OCC's conditional approval represents a significant step toward national operations. The preliminary status means Bastion must satisfy additional requirements before full charter activation, though the conditional grant signals regulatory confidence in the business model.
Nassim Eddequiouaq, CEO of Bastion, framed the approval as validation for the platform's infrastructure play. Unlike custodians or payment processors operating in a regulatory gray zone, Bastion's national trust charter positions it to serve institutional clients and fintechs with explicit OCC oversight. The structure allows stablecoin issuers and custody users to work with a single federally regulated counterparty.
Funding and Competitive Landscape
Bastion raised $14.6 million in a funding round led by Coinbase Ventures in September 2025, with participation by Japanese tech giant Sony, the investment subsidiary of South Korean phone maker Samsung, Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm, and Hashed. The investor roster underscores institutional appetite for regulated stablecoin infrastructure.
Bastion enters a growing cohort of crypto platforms pursuing trust bank 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. The OCC's willingness to issue conditional approvals suggests the regulator sees merit in the trust bank model for crypto infrastructure, even as it maintains scrutiny on individual applicants.
