OCC grants preliminary approval to three stablecoin-focused firms

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval to Agora, Catena, and Bastion on Sept. 18, moving them toward federal trust-bank status. While the move establishes a repeatable regulatory pathway for narrow, uninsured trust banks, the firms still face significant hurdles, including final approval requirements, ongoing legal challenges from state supervisors, and the lack of finalized stablecoin regulations. Agora and Catena are organizing new national trust banks, while Bastion is converting an existing New York trust charter into a national one.