The bank, founded by tech billionaire Palmer Luckey and backed by Peter Thiel, is the first recipient of a national bank charter under the current presidential administration.
Erebor Bank has received its national bank charter, less than four months after receiving a conditional charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and less than two months after it was approved for deposit insurance.
The approval, reported by the Wall Street Journal Friday and confirmed by Comptroller Jonathan Gould Saturday on X, marks the first new national bank chartered under the current Trump administration.
Erebor was founded by tech billionaire Palmer Luckey and plans to cater to start-ups and high-net-worth individuals within the cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, defense and manufacturing sectors.
It opened Sunday with $635 million in capital and several potential defense and tech clients in waiting, the Journal reported. Among them were firms building AI-powered factories and an aerospace company making pharmaceuticals in low gravity, according to the Journal.
“You can think of us like a farmers’ bank for tech,” Luckey told the Journal. “I think most farmers’ banks won’t claim that they’re the best bankers in the world, but they do understand farmers.”
Luckey won’t have an operating role at the bank. He will, however, serve on Erebor’s board, according to the Journal.
An OCC spokesperson confirmed the approval to Banking Dive Monday.
“This is an exciting day for the banking system and reflects the OCC’s commitment to a dynamic and diverse financial system that remains innovative and relevant over time,” the OCC’s Gould said on X Saturday.
In October, Gould said he was “committed to a dynamic and diverse federal banking system” and called Erebor’s conditional approval “a first but important step in living up to that commitment.”
He and fellow top financial regulator, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill, have both spoken in support of chartering. The OCC has conditionally approved a handful of bank charters in recent months and the FDIC conditionally approved industrial loan charters for automakers Ford and General Motors last month.
Erebor’s Sunday opening was a nod to its focus on integrating blockchain technology, which can settle transactions at any time, including outside typical workweek hours, Luckey told the Journal.
The bank must maintain a minimum 12% tier 1 leverage ratio during its first three years of operation, the OCC said when it granted Erebor conditional approval in October.
