On May 28, Dallas-based United Texas Bank announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has approved its conversion to a nationally chartered bank, making it one of the few financial institutions to convert since the passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010. The Federal Reserve Board and the Texas Department of Banking have consented to the conversion.

Notably, the OCC also approved United Texas Bank’s application to exercise full trust powers, which grant the institution the full authority of a federally chartered national bank, including FDIC deposit insurance, Federal Reserve master account connectivity, full commercial lending authority, digital asset custody, stablecoin infrastructure and real-time settlement through its proprietary UTB ATOMIC network. The bank expects to be fully converted within the next month.

The distinction between United Texas Bank’s full-service national bank charter and the trust-only charters pursued by many digital-asset entrants is operationally and legally significant. Trust-only banks cannot accept customer deposits, are generally ineligible for Federal Reserve master accounts and cannot originate commercial loans. United Texas Bank faces none of these limitations, operating with the broadest banking authority available under U.S. federal law and the full safety and soundness oversight of the OCC.

For clients, the practical significance is considerable. United Texas Bank becomes one of the few nationally chartered institutions capable of serving as both digital asset custodian and traditional trustee within a single, OCC-supervised banking relationship. Stablecoin issuers, digital asset investment funds and family offices that require a trustee with institutional-grade digital competency no longer need to split that relationship across multiple providers. United Texas Bank can serve foreign financial institutions, digital asset firms and AI-native enterprises.

The passing of the GENIUS Act established the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, while the pending CLARITY Act will provide long-awaited definitional certainty for digital commodities and securities. Together, they create a legal infrastructure that should benefit institutions with the right regulatory credentials. A national bank with OCC supervision, FDIC insurance and a Federal Reserve master account is the counterparty that stablecoin issuers, digital asset custodians and fintech platforms will be required to use under these frameworks.

United Texas Bank was designed to serve:

• Digital-asset banks and custodians requiring a nationally chartered U.S. banking partner with FDIC insurance, Federal Reserve master account access, OCC supervision and trust powers for institutional counterparty compliance;
• Stablecoin issuers requiring reserve custody, redemption infrastructure, mint/burn agency services and a GENIUS Act-compliant nationally chartered bank counterparty;
• Digital-asset companies, including exchanges, OTC desks, market makers, foundations, DAOs and other digital asset market participants requiring full-service institutional banking infrastructure at scale;
• Correspondent banks and international financial institutions seeking U.S. dollar clearing, real-time settlements, digital asset custody and structured correspondent onboarding;
• AI-native enterprises requiring a programmable, always-on banking infrastructure capable of operating at machine speed, with irrevocable settlement certainty;
• Family offices and high-net-worth individuals seeking a nationally chartered trustee offering integrated traditional fiduciary services and institutional digital asset custody within a single OCC-supervised banking relationship; and
• Commercial clients requiring an institutional lending partner with national bank charter authority, trust powers and established correspondent relationships to support complex capital structures.

Established in 1986, United Texas Bank currently operates three brick-and-mortar branches in Dallas.