OCC Grants Agora, Catena and Bastion Conditional Trust Bank Approvals

Agora, the company behind the AUSD stablecoin, has won preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to set up a national trust bank. Two other applicants got the same answer in the same batch. Catena Trust Bank received approval for a new charter, and Bastion won approval to convert its New York state trust company into a national trust bank. Metaverse Post and UseTheBitcoin list the three as OCC Corporate Decisions #1391 through #1393. Agora announced its approval on Monday, 21 September. None of the three can open yet.

What the charter asks of Agora

The new entity is Agora National Trust Bank, based in New York and wholly owned by Agora Atlas Corp., crypto.news reported on Tuesday. In Agora's own post, the charter brings its stablecoin, custody and transaction infrastructure under direct federal supervision. The conditions are specific. The bank needs at least $10 million in Tier 1 capital, a figure crypto.news, UseTheBitcoin and Metaverse Post all give. For its first three years it must also hold liquid assets worth the greater of $5 million or half its Tier 1 capital, plus 180 days of operating expenses. Agora has 12 months to raise the capital and 18 months to open, according to crypto.news and UseTheBitcoin. Metaverse Post adds that none of the three banks will carry FDIC deposit insurance. That detail comes from one outlet.

Two dates for one decision

crypto.news and UseTheBitcoin date the approval to 18 September. The Crypto Times gives 21 September, the day Agora published its announcement. The likeliest explanation is a letter dated one day and announced on another. We could not read the OCC letters themselves to confirm it. crypto.news also reports that Agora filed its application on 20 April.

Where AUSD would sit

AUSD is issued today by Agora Bermuda Limited, under the Bermuda Monetary Authority, according to The Crypto Times and Coin Edition. crypto.news says VanEck manages its reserves and State Street holds them. The accounts part ways on what comes next. Metaverse Post says Agora intends to move AUSD issuance to the national bank. The Crypto Times and Coin Edition describe the US bank as a separate entity from the Bermuda issuer. Neither account confirms the other, and Agora's post does not settle the point. UseTheBitcoin alone reports more than $11 billion of AUSD transfers in the second quarter and more than 38,000 holders.

"Enterprises shouldn't have to assemble a collection of vendors who don't talk to each other," Agora said, in wording crypto.news carried on Tuesday.

A crowded line of applicants

Catena's bank is built for payments started by AI agents, Metaverse Post reports, and Bastion's is a conversion of a charter it already holds. They join a list that includes Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, Bridge and Fidelity Digital Assets, as well as Circle, which won final approval for its own trust bank in July. Revolut received a preliminary conditional nod on 2 September, The Crypto Times reported. Block applied this month for a trust charter under the name Builders Bank & Trust. UseTheBitcoin says the OCC amended its chartering rule, 12 CFR 5.20, in April to widen the trust-bank definition for digital assets. It counts 40 new-bank applications in 18 months, against 48 across 2011 through 2024. No second outlet repeats that count.

Agora has not said how much capital it plans to raise or when it expects to open. The 18-month clock runs from the approval date, whichever of the two reported dates the OCC letter carries.