Bastion Secures OCC Approval for National Trust Bank Charter to Scale Stablecoin Infrastructure

Bastion has secured preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter. This milestone allows the stablecoin infrastructure provider to offer federally regulated custody and issuance services, bridging the gap between digital assets and the rigorous oversight required by global financial institutions and enterprise-grade risk committees.

What was announced

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted Bastion preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter, a move that transitions the firm into a federally supervised entity under the name Bastion Platforms National Trust Company. This federal oversight complements the state licenses Bastion already maintains, including the New York trust charter it acquired in February 2025. The new charter enables the firm to provide a unified suite of services—including stablecoin custody, digital wallets, payment infrastructure, and white-label issuance—through a single counterparty.

Under the terms of the charter, Bastion will offer fiduciary custody for USDC and other assets compliant with the GENIUS Act. Its white-label services will allow enterprise clients to manage the full lifecycle of stablecoin programs, covering minting, redemption, and the conversion between fiat and digital currencies. While Bastion provides the underlying technology and operational stack, it does not issue its own stablecoins, allowing clients to remain the issuer of record and maintain control over their users and economics.

To support this regulatory expansion, Bastion has appointed several industry veterans to its leadership and advisory teams. Colleen Taylor, who previously led U.S. Merchant Services at American Express, and Michael Patterson, the former Chief Compliance Officer at Genesis, join the Board of Directors. Additionally, Stuart Breslow, a former Chief Compliance Officer at Morgan Stanley, and Gabriella Fitzgerald, who served as CEO of Healthcare Payments at Optum Financial, join as advisors.

"Stablecoins have moved from emerging technology into core financial infrastructure, and that requires a different standard of trust, governance and regulatory rigor. Enterprises and financial institutions can now access stablecoins through a federally regulated counterparty, with the controls and oversight they already expect from their banks. We’ve built Bastion for this moment from day one. Institutional adoption is accelerating, but we’re still in the early innings. Demand is growing faster than the number of providers that can meet enterprise-grade regulatory and operational standards, and Bastion is among the few meeting those standards."

Nassim Eddequiouaq, CEO of Bastion.

The companies involved

Bastion is a stablecoin infrastructure provider that focuses on the technology, operations, and compliance requirements of global enterprises. The company, which operates the website bastion.co.uk, provides the backend systems for firms to launch their own stablecoin networks without Bastion acting as the issuer itself. This model ensures that clients maintain control over their branding and user economics. The firm is backed by prominent venture capital players, including Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, and its leadership includes Nassim Eddequiouaq, CEO, and Caroline Friedman, President and COO.

A key partner for Bastion is Sony Bank, which utilizes the firm’s infrastructure to power its global stablecoin initiatives. Sony Bank, accessible via moneykit.net, is a major Japanese digital bank. The collaboration highlights Bastion’s role in enabling traditional financial institutions to enter the digital asset space using regulated frameworks. By positioning itself as a technology provider that can also operate under its own licenses, Bastion serves as a bridge for institutions that require high-level regulatory compliance to manage digital asset movement and fiat-to-stablecoin on-ramps.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked developments within the broader Sony financial ecosystem, which intersects with Bastion’s current partnership network. In early 2024, we reported that Blackstone Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Sony Payment Services. This acquisition highlighted the shifting landscape of payment processing and the increasing involvement of private equity giants in the infrastructure that supports global transactions. As Sony Bank continues to explore stablecoin initiatives through its partnership with Bastion, the evolution of its payment subsidiaries remains a significant point of interest for the fintech sector.

What this means

The granting of a national trust bank charter by the OCC is a watershed moment for the stablecoin sector, signaling a shift from experimental digital assets to regulated banking infrastructure. By securing federal supervision, Bastion puts significant pressure on competitors who rely solely on state-level money transmitter licenses, which often lack the same level of institutional trust. This move addresses the primary hurdle for enterprise adoption: the need for a counterparty that satisfies the stringent requirements of bank-grade risk committees. The industry is now entering a phase where regulatory compliance is no longer a peripheral feature but the core product itself.