Stripe-Backed Stablecoin Infrastructure Company Bridge Granted Conditional Approval by US OCC

Bridge announced Tuesday (Feb. 18) that it has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. The greenlight lets Bridge National Trust Bank issue stablecoins, custody digital assets, and manage reserve assets under federal oversight. This marks a key milestone for Bridge’s standing in the blockchain payments space, coming after its $1.1 billion acquisition by Stripe in 2024. Bridge noted the approval confirms its ability to build digital dollar products for businesses, fintechs, crypto firms, and traditional financial institutions within the federal framework. Bridge added its systems already meet compliance standards outlined in last year’s GENIUS Act. While the OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC haven’t released specific implementing rules for the law yet, related processes are ongoing. Bridge is among a growing number of firms developing stablecoin products within federal regulatory guardrails. Last December, Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, and BitGo all got similar conditional OCC approvals; Erebor Bank secured a conditional national bank charter in October 2024. Per OCC records, Bridge filed its application in October 2024 and was approved last week. Currently, via Stripe’s Open Issuance platform, Bridge provides stablecoin issuance tech support for products including Phantom’s CASH and MetaMask’s mUSD. The OCC has not yet released a timeline for final approval.