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6h ago

OCC Gives Erebor Bank Conditional National Charter, First De Novo Approval Under Gould

The decision signals a regulated path for bank‑level crypto activity under tight pre‑opening conditions.

Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, during an interview on "The Circuit with Emily Chang" at Anduril's headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, US, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. Anduril recently beat several legacy defense players in a contest for a major contract to develop an unmanned fighter jet for the US Air Force and is now valued at $8.5 billion. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Office of the Comptroller of Currency sign and logo inWashington DC, on July 3, 2017.
Photo: Floriane Vita via Unsplash
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Overview

  • Erebor must secure FDIC deposit insurance, keep a minimum 12% Tier 1 leverage ratio for its first three years, obtain agency non‑objection for senior hires, and clear detailed IT, cybersecurity, and operations reviews before opening.
  • The Columbus, Ohio–based, digital‑only bank plans traditional deposits and lending alongside crypto services, targeting stablecoin transactions and holding about $1 million in cryptocurrency for network fees.
  • Backers include Palmer Luckey, Joe Lonsdale, and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, with Owen Rapaport and Jacob Hirshman as co‑CEOs and banking veteran Mike Hagedorn as president.
  • Erebor filed in June and won preliminary approval roughly four months later, a swift timeline that drew political criticism from Senator Elizabeth Warren over perceived favoritism.
  • Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said permissible digital‑asset activities belong in the federal system if conducted safely, positioning Erebor as the first test case under his tenure and subject to heightened de novo supervision.