US Bank, the fifth-largest financial institution in the US by asset size with $686 billion under management, has been chosen to serve as custodian for the reserves backing Anchorage Digital Bank’s payment stablecoins.
At the beginning of 2021, Anchorage Digital Bank became the first crypto-native institution in the US to receive a federal banking charter. The New York-headquartered bank remains the only federally chartered cryptocurrency bank in the country, operating under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The bank’s parent organisation, Anchorage Digital, was established in 2017 and has attracted investment from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa. Following a $350 million Series D funding round in 2021, the company achieved a valuation exceeding $3 billion.
Anchorage Digital Bank introduced its stablecoin issuance platform in July 2025 following the enactment of the GENIUS Act, which mandates stablecoin issuers to maintain full reserves in low-risk assets such as US dollars.
Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of Anchorage Digital, says that partnering with US Bank “reflects the growing alignment between digital finance and the traditional financial system” and “underscores the momentum behind bringing dollar-backed payment stablecoins into the mainstream”.
Stephen Philipson, vice chair of US Bank’s Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking unit, which has more than $11.7 trillion in assets under custody and administration, notes that payment stablecoins have become an “important area of exploration for institutional banking clients, given the advantages they can offer”.
He highlights that the emerging tech has the potential to “be lower cost and faster than some traditional payment methods, particularly in cross-border payments, where the ability to move at real-time, settle instantly, and contain smart contract controls and terms can facilitate features such as FX and pricing”.
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
