Anchorage Digital, the first crypto company to obtain a US banking charter, wants international banks to replace their correspondent banking relationships with a new service offering US-regulated stablecoin rails to non-US institutions.
The bank is launching what it calls “Stablecoin Solutions” to enable easy cross-border movement of dollar-linked assets, combining “minting and redemption, custody, fiat cash management and settlement” into one service, it said in a statement released Thursday.
“Stablecoins are becoming core financial infrastructure,” Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, said in a statement. “Stablecoin Solutions provides banks with a federally regulated way to move dollars globally using blockchain rails, without compromising custody, compliance or operational control.”
Now that the United States has a new law governing stablecoin issuers under last year’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for American Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, Anchorage Digital – already regulated by a federal charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – is moving to offer stablecoin services. While it is willing to handle any stablecoin brand, an area currently dominated by Tether’s $USDT and Circle $USDC, the company said institutions can natively mint and trade tokens “issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, including Tether’s USA₮, Ethena Labs’ USDtb, OSL’s USDGO, and upcoming issuances such as Western Union’s USDPT.”
Correspondence banking allows foreign banks to use another institution to handle their cross-border activities, such as wire transfers, foreign exchange, accepting foreign deposits, and otherwise acting as a third-party agent. But this can be expensive and time-consuming. Anchorage Digital suggests using stable rails to reduce settlement times and simplify the complexity of the existing system.
The GENIUS Act that will govern this activity is not yet implemented by federal agencies involved in regulation and supervision, such as the OCC and other banking watchdogs. These agencies have begun proposing some of the future regulations.
Some stablecoin yield provisions are now reopened as part of the ongoing Senate negotiations on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
Read more: Tether invests $100 million in US crypto bank Anchorage, valued at $4.2 billion
