Last updated on March 8th, 2026 at 04:37 pm
Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm owned by payments giant Stripe, has secured conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to organize a federally chartered national trust bank.
The decision, announced on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, marks a transformative step for the fintech sector, allowing Bridge to operate digital asset services under direct federal supervision.
Bridge has received OCC conditional approval to organize a federally chartered national trust bank. This will enable us to operate stablecoin products and services under direct federal oversight, including:
– Custody
– Orchestration
– Issuance
– Reserves managementStablecoins…
— Bridge (@Stablecoin) February 17, 2026
The preliminary charter positions Bridge to offer nationwide custody of digital assets, manage stablecoin reserves, and handle stablecoin issuance without needing to secure individual licenses across multiple states. This move follows Stripe’s landmark $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in late 2024, a deal designed to integrate stablecoin-based payment rails into Stripe’s global financial stack.
Regulatory milestone for digital dollars
The OCC’s conditional blessing enables Bridge to build a regulated “backbone” for businesses looking to scale with stablecoins. According to the regulatory filing, the firm must meet specific operational benchmarks, including robust anti-money laundering (AML) protocols and capital adequacy requirements, before the charter is finalized.
Bridge noted that its compliance framework is designed to align with the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The legislation, signed into law last year, has created a clearer path for traditional and innovative financial institutions to interact with tokenized assets while maintaining strict federal oversight.
Expanding the federally chartered crypto cohort
Bridge joins a growing list of industry players seeking federal legitimacy through national trust charters. In December 2025, the OCC granted similar preliminary approvals to Circle, BitGo, Ripple, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets. This trend suggests a methodical strategy by federal regulators to bring stablecoin infrastructure within the traditional banking perimeter.
DeFi Planet reminds us that “bank-integrated products aim to reduce friction” for users, as ING Deutschland recently opened retail access to crypto ETNs in Germany. By operating as a national trust bank, Bridge can offer enterprises a way to manage digital dollars with the same regulatory rigour applied to traditional fiduciary institutions.
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