- Bridge, the stablecoin arm of Stripe, has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a national trust bank under the GENIUS Act.
- The approval would allow Bridge to issue, redeem, and manage stablecoins with federal oversight instead of under state licenses.
- The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin issuers to keep 100% reserves in cash or U.S. Treasuries and publish monthly disclosures.
- Bridge joins other firms like Circle, Paxos, Ripple, and Coinbase in seeking a federal charter for stablecoin operations.
- If approved, Bridge would become one of the first national trust banks dedicated to stablecoins in the U.S.
Bridge, a division of Stripe focused on stablecoin infrastructure, has submitted an application to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The company seeks approval to establish a national trust bank that would be regulated under the federal framework set by the GENIUS Act.
If approved, the charter would permit Bridge to handle the issuance, redemption, and custody of stablecoins—a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the value of a traditional currency like the U.S. dollar—across the country. This would place Bridge‘s operations under federal supervision, bypassing the need for state-by-state money transmitter licenses.
Co-founder Zack Abrams said on X, “the move would allow Bridge to operate under a unified federal framework consistent with the GENIUS Act.” He also noted that this regulatory status could enable Bridge to “tokenize trillions of dollars.”
According to the GENIUS Act—short for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins—companies issuing stablecoins must maintain full reserves in cash or U.S. Treasuries, issue monthly transparency reports, and guarantee redemption rights to token holders.
Other companies, including Circle, Paxos, Ripple, and Coinbase, have also filed for or announced their intent to seek similar federal charters since the act’s passage. Previously, such firms typically operated under state licenses, but new legislation allows the OCC to directly supervise nonbank stablecoin issuers.
Industry observers view Bridge‘s application as an early test of the U.S. federal approach to regulating digital assets and payment stablecoins. A representative from decentralized exchange aggregator Astros said that a federally chartered stablecoin bank could, “set a precedent for interoperability between on-chain liquidity and off-chain oversight.”
Astros also described the federal charter approach as complementary to state-licensed models, noting that “a layered system where regulated institutions and decentralized protocols can safely co-exist” is possible under the new framework. This could provide greater clarity for decentralized finance platforms and allow them to work with compliant collateral options.
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