🚨 Three cryptocurrency companies obtained “bank licenses” in the United States! Stablecoins and digital asset custody are accelerating their entry into the traditional financial system

The U.S. cryptocurrency industry has welcomed another regulatory signal worthy of attention.

On September 18, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted conditional approvals to Agora National Trust Bank, Catena Trust Bank, and Bastion Platforms Trust Company. Among these, Agora and Catena were approved to establish national trust banks, while Bastion was granted permission to transition from a state-level trust company to a national trust bank. Official OCC records show that the three decisions correspond to company decisions numbered 1393, 1392, and 1391, respectively.

On the surface, this is three companies receiving the regulatory green light; but what is truly noteworthy is that an increasing number of cryptocurrency companies are actively entering the U.S. federal banking regulatory system.

What does this mean? Cryptocurrency companies are moving from “fintech companies” towards “regulated financial infrastructure.”

The three companies are actually targeting different markets

Although Agora, Catena, and Bastion are all related to digital assets, their business directions are not entirely the same.

Agora's core business is stablecoins. Its issued AUSD is pegged to the U.S. dollar, and if this national trust bank pathway is ultimately completed, it will further strengthen the connection between its stablecoin business and the federal regulatory framework.

Bastion is more of an infrastructure provider, offering other companies services related to stablecoins, reserve assets, and client wallets. In other words, it acts more like a “backend banking facility” hidden behind financial products.

Catena's direction is more innovative—AI-driven financial infrastructure.

The so-called AI agent refers to software programs capable of autonomously executing trades, payments, and other operations. The problem Catena seeks to address is who will be responsible for custody, control, and regulation of funds when AI begins to hold money, make payments, and even execute financial transactions in the future.

Therefore, these three companies are essentially stepping into three rapidly converging tracks:

Stablecoins + digital asset custody + AI finance.

“Conditional approval” ≠ immediate bank opening

There is a very crucial detail that many reports tend to gloss over.

The OCC’s approval does not represent “immediate full commencement of operations,” but rather a conditional approval.

This means that while the regulatory body principle recognizes these companies' application plans, they still need to meet a series of conditions laid out by the OCC and complete the requirements for establishment, capital, governance, and risk management before they can officially begin operations.

This is why it is not accurate to simply state that “three cryptocurrency companies have officially become banks” at this time.

In fact, in recent years, the OCC has already provided a pathway for digital asset companies to enter the federal banking system through the national trust bank regulatory pathway. By the end of 2025, the OCC conditionally approved several national trust bank applications from companies including Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.

In 2026, the OCC further clarified that national trust banks could engage in trust company operations and related businesses, including digital asset custody activities. Relevant final rules took effect on April 1, 2026.

This means that these three approvals are not isolated incidents but rather part of the continuous entry of digital asset firms into the U.S. federal financial regulatory framework.

Why are cryptocurrency companies increasingly interested in obtaining “federal licenses”?

In the past, cryptocurrency companies often faced a real-world issue:

Their business is nationwide, but regulation may be conducted on a state-by-state basis.

For stablecoin issuers, custodial institutions, and digital asset financial infrastructure companies, different state licenses, regulatory requirements, and business boundaries can increase operational costs.

The national trust bank license provides an alternative pathway.

Regulated by the OCC, it allows eligible institutions to conduct corresponding trust, custody, and related businesses at the federal level.

However, it’s important to note that national trust banks do not equate to traditional commercial banks.

These institutions typically cannot accept everyday checks and savings deposits like regular commercial banks, nor can they freely issue loans merely after obtaining a license.

Its core capability is to build a regulated infrastructure around asset custody, fiduciary management, and related financial services.

This point is very significant for the cryptocurrency industry.

As institutional capital flows into the digital asset market, what the market needs is not just exchanges but a full suite of financial infrastructure including compliant custody, stablecoin issuance, asset management, and settlement.

What’s truly worth noting is the trend of “bankification”

If we look at this event over a longer time frame, its significance may be greater than the three companies themselves.

In recent years, the cryptocurrency industry has been striving to enter the traditional financial system; now, the pathways are changing.

It is not simply traditional banks adding some cryptocurrency business, but rather cryptocurrency companies themselves beginning to apply for banking and trust institution licenses.

The OCC has previously approved several applications for national trust banks from digital asset companies, including Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.

Meanwhile, there are still many institutions currently applying for national trust bank qualifications in the OCC’s digital asset license application list, including zerohash, Payward, and EDX Trust.

This indicates an increasingly evident trend:

The cryptocurrency industry is competing not just for users and transaction volumes but for “infrastructure positions” within the U.S. financial system.

For stablecoins, this could be especially important

Stablecoins are one of the most noteworthy tracks in this round of regulatory changes.

This is because stablecoins essentially connect two systems:

On one side is the U.S. dollar and the traditional financial system, while on the other side are blockchain and the digital asset market.

Whoever can legally, stably, and at scale issue and custody stablecoins may grasp important entry points for future on-chain payments, transaction settlements, and capital flows.

Agora’s recent conditional approval is a typical example.

If more stablecoin issuers move toward the national trust bank model in the future, the competition logic in the stablecoin industry may gradually shift from “who has the largest on-chain scale” to “who possesses stronger compliance capabilities, reserve management abilities, and financial infrastructure.”

And this may further drive stablecoins to evolve from being tools within the cryptocurrency market to becoming broader payment and financial infrastructure.

But this does not mean the cryptocurrency industry has fully achieved “bankification”

The market does not need to draw the conclusion that “the U.S. has fully opened up cryptocurrency banking business” just because of these three approvals.

First, these three are still under conditional approval.

Second, what businesses national trust banks can conduct is still constrained by specific license scopes and regulatory conditions.

Third, stablecoins, digital asset custody, and AI financial infrastructure still face issues related to risk management, capital adequacy, liquidity, and compliance.

Therefore, what is truly worth observing is not today's three approval documents, but whether these companies can meet the OCC requirements, officially commence operations, and how many more digital asset companies will choose the same pathway in the future.

The real change in the cryptocurrency market may have just begun

From the perspective of traders, such news may not immediately cause significant price fluctuations in BTC or ETH.

But from the standpoint of industry development, it sends a very clear signal:

The U.S. regulatory system is gradually forming a pathway for digital asset companies to enter traditional financial infrastructure.

Stablecoins serve to connect the U.S. dollar with the on-chain economy, custodial institutions manage assets, trust banks provide regulated financial infrastructure, and AI agents may further alter the future of payments and transactions.

Therefore, what Agora, Catena, and Bastion are genuinely competing for may not merely be the label of a “bank,” but a seat at the table of the next generation of digital financial infrastructure.

For the cryptocurrency market, what’s truly worth keeping an eye on next is when these three companies will meet the criteria for commencing operations and whether more stablecoin, custody, and digital asset companies will follow suit.

If this pathway continues to expand, the future cryptocurrency market may increasingly resemble a market truly embedded within the traditional financial system, rather than just an independently existing digital asset market.

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