Wyoming grants Avanti Bank & Trust an SPDI bank charter
Bitcoin advocate Caitlin Long receives bank charter for her new company Avanti Financial in Wyoming, following Kraken's similar achievement.
On October 28, 2020, Wyoming grants Avanti Bank & Trust an SPDI bank charter. Bitcoin advocate Caitlin Long receives bank charter for her new company Avanti Financial in Wyoming, following Kraken's similar achievement.
Long had been instrumental in advocating for Wyoming's blockchain-friendly legislation and had spent years working to create a regulatory framework that would allow cryptocurrency businesses to operate as banks while serving digital asset clients. Avanti planned to provide services to cryptocurrency and blockchain companies including custody, payment processing, and access to Federal Reserve payment systems.
Long's successful charter application represented the culmination of years of effort to create a path for cryptocurrency integration with traditional banking infrastructure. She had worked with Wyoming legislators to develop the SPDI framework specifically designed to accommodate digital asset businesses, recognizing that existing banking regulations didn't fit cryptocurrency companies well and that creating appropriate regulatory categories would allow innovation while maintaining oversight.
The charter meant Avanti could operate as a state-chartered bank under Wyoming banking supervision, potentially accessing Fed payment systems and offering services that non-bank cryptocurrency companies couldn't provide. For Bitcoin's ecosystem, Avanti's charter demonstrated that cryptocurrency-focused banks were viable and that regulatory frameworks were evolving to accommodate digital assets rather than excluding them from banking.