Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm owned by payments giant Stripe, has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a national trust bank. This charter would authorize Bridge National Trust Bank to issue stablecoins, custody digital assets, and manage reserves under direct federal oversight.
The approval, granted on February 12, 2026, marks a significant step in Stripe's broader push into blockchain-based payments following its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in 2024. In a press release, Bridge stated, "This approval positions Bridge to help enterprises, fintechs, crypto businesses and financial institutions build with digital dollars inside a clear federal framework."
The company asserts its systems already comply with the standards outlined in the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, the landmark stablecoin regulation signed into law in July 2025. While federal banking regulators like the OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC are still finalizing the specific rules mandated by the GENIUS Act, Bridge's approval indicates progress in that process.
Bridge is part of a growing cohort of crypto firms securing similar conditional approvals. In December 2025, the OCC granted conditional approvals to Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, and BitGo. Erebor Bank received a conditional national bank charter in October 2025.
Currently, Bridge powers stablecoin issuance for products like Phantom's CASH and MetaMask's mUSD via Stripe's Open Issuance platform. The OCC has not announced a timeline for final approval. The move has drawn some industry pushback, with the American Bankers Association (ABA) urging the OCC in a recent letter to slow its approval of crypto companies for national trust charters until GENIUS Act rules are fully clarified, warning that such charters could be used to bypass regulatory oversight.
