Anchorage Digital
The first crypto company to receive a U.S. federal banking charter (Jan 2021), whose charter then subjected it to an OCC consent order over BSA/AML failures — terminated in August 2025.
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- Location
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Country
- United States
- Founded
- Co-founders Nathan McCauley (CEO) and Diogo Mónica (President)
- Known for
- Institutional digital-asset platform — custody, trading, staking, governance and financing; Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A.
- Bank charter
- First crypto-native company granted a national trust charter by the OCC (January 13, 2021)
- Enforcement arc
- OCC consent order April 21, 2022 (BSA/AML deficiencies, neither admit nor deny); terminated August 18, 2025
- Funding
- $80M Series C (Feb 2021, led by GIC); $350M Series D at over $3B valuation (Dec 2021, led by KKR)
Overview
Anchorage Digital is a San Francisco-based institutional digital-asset platform — offering custody, trading, staking, governance and financing for institutions — co-founded by CEO Nathan McCauley and President Diogo Mónica (PYMNTS). On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted Anchorage conditional approval for a national trust charter, creating what was reported as the first federally chartered digital-asset bank in U.S. history (Nasdaq). Because it holds a national trust charter rather than a full commercial-bank charter, assets it holds do not need to be insured by the FDIC — while the charter simultaneously put the company under direct federal supervision, a fact that would shape the next four years (Nasdaq).
The charter and the capital
The charter made Anchorage a regulatory first, and investors followed quickly. The company — described at the time as a startup backed by Visa — offered custody for institutional crypto traders alongside real-time trading and U.S.-dollar loans and lines of credit collateralized by digital assets (Nasdaq). In February 2021 it closed an $80 million Series C led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, with Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, Lux and Indico participating (Decrypt).
That December, Anchorage closed a $350 million Series D led by KKR — the private-equity firm’s first direct equity investment in a digital-asset company, made through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II — valuing Anchorage at over $3 billion (PYMNTS). The round drew Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, GIC, Kraken, Thoma Bravo, Wellington and others, with the new capital earmarked for crypto-infrastructure products aimed at global financial firms and fintech clients (PYMNTS).
The consent order — and its termination
The charter’s supervisory bite came on April 21, 2022, when the OCC and Anchorage agreed to a consent order (AA-ENF-2022-7) in which the regulator said the bank had failed to meet Bank Secrecy Act requirements for its internal controls (CoinDesk). Anchorage neither admitted nor denied the findings. The order found that, as of 2021, the bank had failed to adopt an adequate BSA/AML compliance program — specifically deficient internal controls for customer due diligence, procedures for monitoring suspicious activity, and BSA officer, staff and training (CoinDesk). It required Anchorage to create a compliance committee, a majority of whose members could not be Anchorage employees, filing progress reports with the OCC every 30 days, and to hire an executive to oversee Bank Secrecy Act compliance (CoinDesk). Then-acting Comptroller Michael Hsu said the OCC held all nationally chartered banks to the same standards “whether they engage in traditional or novel activities” (PYMNTS).
Three years later, the order was lifted. On August 18, 2025, the OCC issued order AA-ENF-2025-44 terminating the 2022 consent order against Anchorage Digital Bank, National Association of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, finding that “the safety and soundness of the Bank and its compliance with laws and regulations does not require the continued existence of the Order” (OCC). The termination, announced August 21, 2025, closed a three-year enforcement chapter for the first federally chartered crypto-focused bank (PYMNTS). Co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley framed the arc as proof that “crypto and federal oversight are not mutually exclusive — and can in fact be stronger working in tandem,” saying the company had spent the intervening period — 1,681 days since the charter — building compliance infrastructure under annual OCC examinations (PYMNTS). The charter remains in active use: in September 2026 the bank added custody support for assets on Etherlink, an EVM-compatible layer-2 network — including xU3O8, a token representing physical uranium — for its institutional clients (Cointelegraph).
What this profile does not claim
- This profile describes Anchorage as the first federally chartered digital-asset bank — firmly established. Whether it remains the only one is attributed to the dates of the cited coverage; later charter applications by other crypto firms were reported but not independently verified here.
- The profile does not reproduce the founders’ prior-employment history or name institutional clients, since those details come from company material rather than independent sources.
- The OCC’s reasons for terminating the 2022 order are reported exactly as stated in the termination order; the profile does not interpret whether the decision reflected remediated compliance, a changed enforcement posture, or both.
- This profile covers Anchorage Digital, the San Francisco institutional crypto platform and its OCC-chartered bank — not any similarly named entity.
Timeline
- 2021
- On January 13 the OCC grants Anchorage conditional approval for a national trust charter — the first federally chartered digital-asset bank in U.S. history; as a trust charter, held assets need no FDIC insurance. The company, backed by Visa, offers custody, real-time trading and USD loans collateralized by digital assets. A month later it closes an $80M Series C led by GIC.
- 2021
- On December 15 Anchorage closes a $350M Series D led by KKR — the firm's first direct equity investment in a digital-asset company — valuing Anchorage at over $3B. Participants include Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, GIC, Kraken, Thoma Bravo and Wellington.
- 2022
- On April 21 the OCC and Anchorage agree to a consent order (AA-ENF-2022-7): the regulator found the bank had failed to adopt an adequate BSA/AML compliance program — deficient internal controls for customer due diligence, suspicious-activity monitoring, BSA officer and staff, and training. Anchorage neither admits nor denies the findings and must create a compliance committee (majority non-employees) filing progress reports every 30 days, and hire a BSA executive.
- 2025
- On August 18 the OCC terminates the 2022 consent order (AA-ENF-2025-44), finding that "the safety and soundness of the Bank and its compliance with laws and regulations does not require the continued existence of the Order." The termination is announced August 21.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Independent press at the relevant dates describes Anchorage as the first — and, as of 2025 coverage, still the only — federally chartered crypto bank; the profile states 'first' firmly and attributes 'only' to the coverage dates, since later charter applications by other firms were reported but not verified.
- Founder background details (prior Square employment) and institutional client names come from company material and are not asserted.
- Whether the OCC's termination reflected improved compliance, a changed enforcement posture under a new administration, or both, is a matter of interpretation; the profile reports only the order's stated grounds.
Sources
7 sources (2 tier 1, 5 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Sources were selected for independence from the subject: the OCC's own enforcement orders (tier1), Nasdaq/Motley Fool, PYMNTS, CoinDesk and Cointelegraph. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index and is not cited. No first-party sources were used per editorial rule — nothing from anchorage.com, the company blog, or company press releases is cited.
- Supports: OCC conditional approval of Anchorage's national trust charter; first federally chartered digital-asset bank in history; trust-charter assets need no FDIC insurance; Anchorage backed by Visa; custody, real-time trading, USD loans/lines collateralized by digital assets; founders Nathan McCauley and Diogo Mónica Open original source
- Order terminating the Cease and Desist Order against Anchorage Digital Bank, National Association Tier 1Supports: Termination order AA-ENF-2025-44; recites the April 21, 2022 consent order (AA-ENF-2022-7); bank identified as Anchorage Digital Bank, National Association, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; OCC finding that continued enforcement is not required; signed by Assistant Deputy Comptroller for Novel Bank Supervision Aaron Liechenstein Open original source
- Supports: $350M Series D at over $3B valuation led by KKR; full investor list (Goldman Sachs, Alameda Research, a16z, Apollo credit funds, Blockchain Capital, GIC, Kraken, Lux, Thoma Bravo, Wellington, etc.); McCauley CEO and Mónica president/co-founders; KKR's first direct equity investment in a digital-asset company Open original source
- Supports: $80M Series C led by GIC with a16z, Blockchain Capital, Lux, Indico; timing immediately after the January 2021 charter; custody plus staking, governance and trading services Open original source
- Supports: April 21, 2022 consent order; BSA/AML internal-control deficiencies (customer due diligence, suspicious-activity monitoring, BSA officer/staff, training); neither-admit-nor-deny; compliance committee with majority non-employees; 30-day progress reports; BSA executive hire; Anchorage's statement on corrective action; charter received January 2021 as first crypto-native company Open original source
- Supports: Termination announced August 21, 2025; three-year duration of the 2022 order; national bank charter granted January 13, 2021 as first crypto company to gain that status; then-acting Comptroller Hsu's 2022 statement on equal standards for chartered banks Open original source
- Supports: Charter in active use — custody support for Etherlink assets incl. xU3O8 tokenized uranium; described as the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US; investors incl. Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs and Visa Open original source
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