Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company owned by Stripe, has applied for a national bank trust charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). If approved, this charter would enable Bridge to issue and manage regulated stablecoins under federal supervision, operating within a framework aligned with the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin legislation enacted earlier this year that sets national standards for dollar-backed tokens and reserve disclosures.
Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams emphasized the significance on X, stating: "We’ve long believed stablecoins will be a core, regulated financial building block. This regulatory infrastructure will enable us to tokenize trillions of dollars and make this future possible." Stripe first signaled its intent to seek OCC oversight two weeks ago, following its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge last year to integrate stablecoin infrastructure into its global payments ecosystem.
The move positions Stripe to compete directly with established stablecoin issuers like Circle (USDC) and Paxos for institutional clients. Bridge has become central to Stripe's strategy, with recent partnerships including Coinbase and Shopify to enable USDC payments for merchants, the launch of an Open Issuance platform for custom stablecoins, and development of Tempo, a Layer 1 blockchain for payments. Additionally, Stripe is testing a subscription service for recurring stablecoin payments.
If approved, the charter could streamline these offerings under a single regulated entity, reducing compliance friction and enhancing trust among financial institutions. The OCC review process typically takes several months and involves scrutiny of compliance systems and risk frameworks. With Stripe's 3.5 million merchant clients, federal licensing could bridge traditional finance and blockchain settlements, accelerating adoption under a unified regulatory roof.
