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The OCC approved national trust bank applications from Bastion, Catena, and Agora on Sept. 18.
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Agora plans to move AUSD issuance into its proposed bank, while Bastion intends to provide white-label stablecoin services.
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Ripple’s proposed bank would safeguard RLUSD reserves and custody crypto.
Ripple’s push to place part of its stablecoin business under federal banking supervision is becoming considerably less exclusive.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) conditionally approved three crypto-focused national trust banks on Sept. 18, adding Bastion, Catena, and Agora to a rapidly expanding field of federally regulated digital asset institutions.
The decisions may weaken the scarcity value of Ripple’s preliminary approval, particularly since two of the new applicants plan to compete directly in the stablecoin infrastructure space.
OCC Approves Three Crypto Banks in One Day
The OCC’s decisions page shows that the regulator approved all three applications on the same day.
Bastion Platforms Trust Company received permission to convert its existing New York trust company into Bastion Platforms National Trust Company.
Meanwhile, the OCC granted preliminary conditional approval for two new institutions: Catena Trust Bank and Agora National Trust Bank
These are limited-purpose banks rather than conventional retail banks; their proposed activities revolve around:
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related institutional services.
The three business models also overlap with Ripple to different degrees.
Agora Plans to Bring AUSD Into Its Bank
Agora represents the clearest stablecoin comparison.
According to the OCC’s decision, Agora National Trust Bank would focus on issuing dollar-backed stablecoins and providing digital asset custody.
It would also offer programmable payments and investment advisory services to institutional customers holding assets with the bank.
Most significantly, Agora intends to transfer the issuance of AUSD from its Bermuda-based entity to the proposed US bank.
The planned transition would move AUSD’s reserve assets and associated liabilities into Agora National Trust Bank through a formal cutover process.
That would make Agora’s proposed bank more directly involved in stablecoin issuance than Ripple National Trust Bank.
Bastion Targets the White-Label Stablecoin Market
Bastion is pursuing a different model: helping other companies launch stablecoins under their own brands.
The OCC’s approval covers white-label stablecoin issuance, custodial wallets, conversion services, and support for other regulated issuers.
