Bastion Platforms has taken a step toward federal banking oversight after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval for the conversion of its New York state trust company into a national trust bank.
The decision, issued on September 18, 2026, would allow the firm to operate as Bastion Platforms National Trust Company under OCC Charter Number 27198.
The converted institution would keep its principal office at 216 Bowery in New York City.
It would remain an uninsured trust bank: it could not accept deposits and would not carry FDIC insurance.
Instead, its authorized activities would center on trust-company functions and related services, including fiduciary custody of stablecoins, custodial wallet offerings, conversion between fiat currency and USDC for custody clients, white-label stablecoin issuance, and operational support for other regulated issuers.
Bastion described the charter as a way to place custody, payments infrastructure, and white-label issuance under a single federally supervised entity rather than a collection of state licenses.
Chief Executive Nassim Eddequiouaq said stablecoins have become core financial infrastructure and therefore require a higher standard of governance and regulatory rigor.
The company has pursued federal supervision since obtaining its New York limited-purpose trust charter in February 2025.
The OCC reviewed the conversion application filed on March 30, 2026, and concluded that the proposal met applicable statutory and policy standards under the National Bank Act.
The agency noted that Congress has long authorized national banks limited to trust-company operations and related activities.
It also pointed to the GENIUS Act’s recognition that uninsured national banks may issue stablecoins.
The OCC granted a citizenship waiver for one director and recorded that the bank is expected to apply for Federal Reserve stock.
No public comments were received on the application.
Conditional approval is not a final license.
Bastion must still satisfy remaining OCC conditions covering capitalization, governance, risk management, and compliance before it can commence operations as a national trust bank.
Until those requirements are certified, the charter remains contingent.
The move places Bastion among a growing group of digital-asset firms seeking national trust charters as stablecoin infrastructure becomes more tightly integrated with traditional finance.
Other companies have received similar conditional or final approvals in recent months.
For enterprise clients and financial institutions, a federally chartered counterparty can simplify due diligence and align with the expectations of their own regulators and risk committees.
Bastion does not issue a branded stablecoin of its own.
Its model is to provide the underlying technology and fiduciary services so clients can launch products under their own names while retaining economic control.
Supporters of this structure argue that it brings issuance, reserve management, custody, and conversion into a more standardized, supervised framework.
The approval reflects a broader regulatory shift toward treating certain digital-asset activities as extensions of traditional trust and custody work rather than as entirely novel banking products. Whether or not Bastion completes the remaining conditions and begins operating under the national charter will determine how quickly that framework is put into practice.