Andreessen Horowitz-backed OpenReserve secures preliminary OCC approval for national bank charter

Andreessen Horowitz-backed OpenReserve has received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a full-service national bank.

The proposed bank must raise at least $210 million in initial paid-in capital, net of organizational and preopening expenses, the OCC said in a letter on Wednesday. It must also maintain a Tier 1 leverage ratio of at least 12% during its first three years of operation.

Founded in 2025 by Diwakar Choubey and Richard Correia, OpenReserve says it is being built around a programmable core ledger and native onchain settlement. Its proposed services include deposits and lending, payments and treasury services, tokenized deposit products, digital asset custody, and foreign correspondent banking.

The OCC letter also says the proposed bank plans to establish a wholly owned subsidiary for the issuance, custody, conversion, and payment of U.S. dollar-denominated reserve-backed stablecoins. The subsidiary has not yet filed an application, according to the regulator.

OpenReserve previously raised a $25 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz's a16z crypto. Jump Capital, Acrew, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, Clocktower, Quona, AAF Management, and Zero Knowledge Ventures also participated. 

"We believe Americans and companies worldwide will benefit from more banking options, and the technological progress that new banks like OpenReserve represent," a16z crypto said in a blog post. "We are proud to partner with Dee, Rick, and the entire OpenReserve team."

Before commencing operations, OpenReserve must satisfy the OCC's preopening requirements and receive final approval. It is also expected to obtain FDIC deposit insurance and apply for Federal Reserve Bank stock.

OCC charter approvals

The OCC's decision follows a string of conditional approvals for crypto-focused institutions under Comptroller Jonathan Gould, who has said entities engaging in novel technologies should have a pathway to become federally supervised banks. Since 2025, the OCC has received 40 de novo charter applications and approved 21.

The agency has granted conditional approvals for national trust bank charters to crypto firms including Coinbase, Paxos, BitGo, Ripple, and Circle. Revolut received a similar nod on Wednesday, weeks after the Trump-backed World Liberty Trust Company got the regulator's approval. 

However, the charter push has drawn criticism. In May, Senator Elizabeth Warren accused the OCC of granting national trust charters to crypto firms that could seek to operate beyond the narrow activities permitted under the National Bank Act. Her criticism focused on firms including Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, and Coinbase.