Highlights
- OpenReserve raised a $25 million seed round led by a16z crypto, with Coinbase Ventures, Jump Capital and others also participating.
- The startup has already secured preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a nationally chartered bank.
- Its core ledger uses a blockchain-style programmable architecture built for continuous settlement, instant transfers and atomic transactions rather than batch processing.
- OpenReserve plans no physical branches, positioning itself as an always-open bank for digital-asset clients.
OpenReserve, a startup building what it calls a blockchain-integrated national bank, has closed a $25 million seed round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Jump Capital, Acrew, Coinbase Ventures, Clocktower, Quona Capital and Middle East-focused AAF Management among roughly a dozen backers. The company was founded in 2025 by Diwakar “Dee” Choubey, the co-founder of fintech lender MoneyLion, and Richard Correia, and is headquartered in New York with a planned main office in Salt Lake City, Utah. OpenReserve has already secured preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a nationally chartered bank, a regulatory head start that sets it apart from most blockchain-finance startups still waiting on a charter.
A Bank Built to Run Continuously
The pitch is a bank built to run continuously rather than in the batch cycles that define most of the existing US banking system. According to Bloomberg's reporting on the raise, OpenReserve's core ledger borrows blockchain's programmable architecture to support stablecoins and tokenized deposits, enabling continuous settlement, instant fund transfers and atomic transactions — meaning a payment either completes in full or not at all, with no partial or delayed state in between. Rather than issuing its own token or operating outside the regulated banking system, OpenReserve intends to extend credit and hold deposits through a chartered bank's balance sheet, layering blockchain-style infrastructure underneath conventional banking economics instead of replacing them. The company plans no physical branches at all, betting that a fully digital, always-open model is enough to compete with incumbent banks for depositors and business clients whose activity does not stop at 5 p.m. or over a weekend.
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Why a16z and Coinbase Ventures Are In
That combination — a fully regulated bank wrapped around blockchain rails — is part of why a16z crypto, alongside Coinbase Ventures, chose to lead the round: it targets the same digital-asset-heavy customer base that has struggled to find banking partners willing to serve it around the clock. OpenReserve's raise lands amid a broader push by both crypto-native firms and traditional banks piloting tokenized deposit transfers and asset managers seeking clearance to tokenize money-market products. What differentiates OpenReserve is that it is attempting to build the bank itself rather than partner with one, pairing a fresh OCC charter with venture backing from firms that have spent years funding crypto infrastructure but rarely underwriting a bank's actual balance sheet. It is not the only effort to blend blockchain rails with regulated banking rails, either — a coalition of US state banking groups has separately moved to build its own bank-run blockchain network, underscoring how contested this infrastructure layer has become.
If OpenReserve receives full OCC approval, it would become one of the first nationally chartered banks purpose-built around programmable, blockchain-style settlement rather than one retrofitting decades-old core banking software. For the crypto industry, a fully regulated, venture-backed bank willing to serve digital-asset clients around the clock addresses a persistent complaint from exchanges, stablecoin issuers and trading firms that traditional banking partners are slow, branch-hours-bound and often reluctant to take on crypto-adjacent customers at all.
What Comes Next
The next milestone is full OCC chartering, which would let OpenReserve begin operating as a licensed national bank rather than a startup with preliminary conditional approval; the timeline for that final approval has not been disclosed. Investors and prospective clients will also be watching how OpenReserve stands up its promised Salt Lake City office and whether it can attract deposit relationships with the stablecoin issuers, exchanges and trading firms that make up its most likely early customer base. With $25 million in seed funding now in hand, the company's next visible test will be whether it can translate a blockchain-native ledger and a bank charter into actual deposit volume once it opens for business.
FAQ
What is OpenReserve?
OpenReserve is a startup building a blockchain-integrated national bank, founded in 2025 by MoneyLion co-founder Dee Choubey and Richard Correia, aiming to serve digital-asset clients with an always-open, branch-free banking model.
Who led OpenReserve's seed round?
a16z crypto led the $25 million round, with Jump Capital, Acrew, Coinbase Ventures, Clocktower, Quona Capital and AAF Management also participating.
Has OpenReserve received a bank charter?
It has preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a nationally chartered bank, though full approval has not yet been granted.
How is OpenReserve's technology different from a typical bank's?
Its core ledger uses a blockchain-style programmable architecture supporting stablecoins and tokenized deposits, enabling continuous settlement and atomic transactions instead of the daily batch processing most banks rely on.
