Crypto Bank Erebor Approved for Conditional Federal Bank Charter by OCC

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted conditional national bank status to Erebor Bank, a new tech-oriented bank seeking to rise into the gap left by the collapse of several such lenders in 2023, including Silicon Valley Bank.

OCC chief Jonathan Gould said the Wednesday approval — the first new-bank charter in his tenure at the regulator — offers "proof that the OCC under my leadership does not impose blanket barriers to banks that want to engage in digital asset activities."

"Permissible digital asset activities, like any other legally permissible banking activity, have a place in the federal banking system if conducted in a safe and sound manner," Gould said in a statement.

The firm, leaning into the tech world's love for names associated with the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien, described itself in its charter application as a national bank that will "operate as a banking organization providing traditional banking products, as well as virtual currency-related products and services."

The banking regulator's "preliminary conditional approval" is dependent on the new institution meeting ongoing requirements in a kind of probationary period. The agency's approval letter noted that Erebor will "target its products and services to technology companies and ultra-high-net-worth individuals that utilize virtual currencies."

This year, as regulators appointed by crypto-boosting President Donald Trump reversed earlier government resistance to crypto-tied businesses, the U.S. banking agencies, which also includes the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., have sought to issue friendlier policy guidance for the industry.

In 2021, Anchorage Digital had opened the movement of crypto-oriented banks into OCC chartering, and it stood alone in that category for years, but a number of digital assets firms have recently moved to seek federal banking charters in the U.S. The OCC is the only regulator who grants such charters at the national level.