Avanti Bank & Trust have been granted a bank charter by the Wyoming State Banking Board through a unanimous vote (8-0). The US now boasts two crypto banks, after Avanti was granted its banking licence, following in the footsteps of one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Kraken. Kraken was granted a licence by the Wyoming State Banking Board in September 2020.
AVANTI IS OFFICIALLY A BANK! Our charter & business plan were approved 8-0 today, incl. #Avit (a tokenized US dollar, which we announced we'll issue initially on #Liquid (#Bitcoin sidechain) & #Ethereum. Open for commercial customers early Q1. More here:https://t.co/CgNazN08zV
— Avanti Bank & Trust (@AvantiBT) October 28, 2020
According to a press release:
“Avanti’s approved business plan includes several products and services, including a tokenized U.S. dollar called Avit™*; custody services for digital assets as a “qualified custodian” under the Investment Advisers Act; API-based online banking services, where customer deposits must be 100% backed by reserves; and prime services for digital assets.”
“…approved products include the issuance of a tokenized U.S. dollar, Avit (rhymes with “have it”). Avit is designed to solve widely-acknowledged problems with legacy payment systems faced by traders, investors and corporate treasurers.”
Avanti plans to provide commercial accounts in Q1 of 2021, and other accounts with high minimum balance requirements soon thereafter. Avanti revealed that it initially plans to issue the Avit token on Liquid (a Bitcoin sidechain developed by Blockstream) and Ethereum, but will consider issuing Avit on other blockchains in the future, based on the customer demand and its assessment of network security.
The United States seems to be the ‘hot spot’ for crypto activity over the past few months, with many large names dipping their toes into the crypto space.
Feature image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
