According to an Oct. 28 announcement from Avanti, The Wyoming State Banking Board voted 8-0 to grant the financial institution a bank charter. The approval will allow Avanti to operate the new crypto-friendly bank under the name Avanti Bank & Trust as well as its “tokenized U.S. dollar” Avit, designed to modernize USD payments.
Avanti said it planned to open for customers in early 2021, but will be limited to high minimum balance accounts. Retail clients will have to wait.
“Avanti’s mission is to provide a compliant bridge between the traditional and digital asset financial systems, with the strictest level of institutional custody standards,” said Avanti founder and CEO Caitlin Long:
“Currently the only type of U.S. financial institution that can provide final and simultaneous settlement of trades between digital assets and the U.S. dollar — because it is the only type currently approved to handle both within the same legal entity — is a Wyoming special purpose depository institution like Avanti.”
The Wyoming Division of Banking first accepted Avanti’s application for a bank charter in July, shortly before the bank announced it would be releasing Avit. The firm stated it would issue Avit on Bitcoin’s Liquid sidechain as well as the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain and will consider issuing it “on other blockchains in the future.”
In September, San Francisco-based crypto exchange Kraken received a Wyoming bank charter, making it the first cryptocurrency business allowed to operate as a bank in the United States.
This story is developing and will be updated