OCC conditionally approves Stripe subsidiary Bridge for trust charter

Core Insights - Bridge, a subsidiary of Stripe, has received conditional approval for a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) [1] - This charter allows Bridge to issue stablecoins, custody digital assets, and manage reserves under OCC oversight, positioning it to support enterprises and fintechs within a federal framework [2] - The approval process timeline for final OCC approval remains uncertain, but similar firms have taken about four months in the conditional phase before receiving final approval [3] Regulatory Context - The OCC has conditionally approved several other firms for national trust bank charters, including Circle Internet Group, Ripple, Paxos Trust, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets, which may have encouraged additional applications [4] - The Bank Policy Institute has expressed concerns regarding the increase in charter applications from digital asset firms, suggesting that it could blur the definition of a bank and increase systemic risk [5] - The trade group advocates for digital asset firms to pursue full-service national banking charters instead of limited-purpose trust licenses for traditional banking activities [6]