OpenReserve, which counts Andreessen Horowitz as a backer, has been granted preliminary conditional consent by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to set up a comprehensive national bank.
According to an OCC communication released Wednesday, the prospective bank needs to accumulate at least $210 million in starting paid-in capital, after accounting for organizational and preopening costs. Furthermore, it must sustain a Tier 1 leverage ratio of no less than 12% across its initial three operational years.
Established in 2025 by Richard Correia and Diwakar Choubey, OpenReserve explains that its infrastructure centers around a programmable core ledger together with native onchain settlement. Its planned offerings encompass lending and deposits, treasury and payment solutions, digital asset custody, tokenized deposit items, and foreign correspondent banking.
The regulatory letter additionally indicates that the planned institution intends to launch a fully owned subsidiary dedicated to issuing, safeguarding, converting, and settling U.S. dollar-denominated reserve-backed stablecoins. The agency noted that this subsidiary has not yet formally submitted an application.
Previously, OpenReserve secured a $25 million seed funding round spearheaded by a16z crypto from Andreessen Horowitz. Additional participants included Jump Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Acrew, Wintermute Ventures, Clocktower, Quona, Zero Knowledge Ventures, and AAF Management.
“We believe Americans and companies worldwide will benefit from more banking options, and the technological progress that new banks like OpenReserve represent,” stated a16z crypto in a published blog entry. “We are proud to partner with Dee, Rick, and the entire OpenReserve team.”
Before launching its activities, OpenReserve is required to fulfill the OCC’s preopening mandates and secure final authorization. Additionally, it is anticipated to acquire FDIC deposit protection and apply for shares in a Federal Reserve Bank.
OCC charter approvals
The determination by the OCC arrives amid a series of conditional clearances granted to cryptocurrency-oriented entities under Comptroller Jonathan Gould, who has argued that organizations pursuing innovative technologies should access a route to becoming federally supervised banking institutions. Since 2025, the OCC has reviewed 40 de novo charter submissions, granting approval to 21.
The regulator has issued conditional national trust bank charter approvals to digital asset companies such as Coinbase, BitGo, Paxos, Ripple, and Circle. Revolut attained a comparable endorsement on Wednesday, following the Trump-supported World Liberty Trust Company receiving regulatory consent weeks prior.
Nonetheless, this push for charters has faced pushback. Back in May, Senator Elizabeth Warren blamed the OCC for issuing national trust charters to crypto ventures that might attempt to function outside the restricted scope of operations authorized by the National Bank Act. Her objections centered on organizations such as Ripple, Circle, Coinbase, Fidelity, BitGo, and Paxos.
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Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-04-andreessen-horowitz-backed-openreserve-secures-preliminary-occ-approval-for-national-bank-charter-413528.
