Avanti crypto bank: Caitlin Long to build First crypto-native bank in the US

Blockchain pioneer, Caitlin Long who helped enact 13 pro-blockchain laws in Wyoming, is using the momentum to establish a crypto bank in the US. The bank is titled Avanti, meaning ‘forward’ in Italian. The bank is set to the United States’ first crypto-native bank.

Avanti crypto bank

Caitlin Long, who is a former Wall Street executive, made the announcement in a series of tweets. Long believes that the bank would provide a crucial piece of infrastructure to the US markets. She added that a regulated bank could connect the Federal Reserve for payments and offer crypto custody for “BIG institutional money.” 

1/ INTRODUCING AVANTI BANK, a new US #bank to serve #digitalasset industry, offering new products & svcs not currently available in USD mkts along w/ tech partner @Blockstream. #Wyoming-based. We’re preparing long process of charter application & aim to open early 2021. @AvantiBT pic.twitter.com/fpnN6qBBhW

— Caitlin Long 🔑 (@CaitlinLong_) February 24, 2020

Long also expressed her gratitude towards the governor of Wyoming, Mark Gordon, and Wyoming’s legislature, which according to her, “paved the way” for such a bank to exist. Long added that Wyoming’s special-purpose depository institution (SPDI) law is the optimal regulatory structure for providing crypto-related financial services.

Nonetheless, the law has very high regulatory requirements, including that all fiat deposits must be 100 percent back. The reserved assets held by the crypto bank cannot be used by the bank for its own financial operations, i.e., the reserved assets must not be rehypothecated.

Furthermore, according to Caitlin Long, the SPDI has “by far” the strictest and fairest customer protections in the industry.  

Moreover, she recalled the “not your keys, not your coins” slogan and ensured that Avanti respects that. She stated that the bank intends on offering multiple levels of custody services, including multi-sig signing as a service.

Long expressed complete trust in Blockstream as a partner for Avanti and claimed that Blockstream was ideal for “BIG institutional investors” that need regulated banks to deliver services around crypto in the USD markets.

Featured image by pixabay.