{"id":3693029,"date":"2026-04-30T04:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/?p=3693029"},"modified":"2026-04-30T20:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:57:16","slug":"why-the-anchorage-ceo-wants-3999-crypto-bank-competitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/cryptocurrency\/2026\/why-the-anchorage-ceo-wants-3999-crypto-bank-competitors\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Anchorage CEO Wants 3,999 Crypto Bank Competitors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Explore more conversations like this <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/podcast\/from-the-block\/\"><em>From the Block<\/em><\/a><em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><div\r\n\tid=\"article-paywall-overlay\"\r\n\tclass=\"d-none\"\r\n>\r\n\t<div id=\"article-paywall-content\" class=\"my-4\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"2699550\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" 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free access to all PYMNTS content \u2014 no additional logins required.\n\t<\/p>\n\t<div id='registrationContainer' class='container px-0'>\n\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t\t<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"firstName\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required form-control border-secondary\" id=\"firstName\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" placeholder=\"First Name*\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"firstName\" \/><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t\t<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"lastName\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required form-control border-secondary\" id=\"lastName\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" placeholder=\"Last Name*\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"lastName\" 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class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-hidden\" value=\"\" type=\"hidden\" name=\"email\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"newsLetterChoice\"><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-checkbox me-1\" id=\"checkNewsletter\"><span class=\"wpcf7-list-item first last\"><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"newsLetterChoice[]\" value=\"yes\" checked=\"checked\" \/><span class=\"wpcf7-list-item-label\">yes<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"small\">Subscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"small lh-base\" style=\"font-size:.9rem;\">By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/terms-conditions\/\">Terms and Conditions<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p><input id='hiddenPath' type='hidden' name='path' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='userDeviceId' id='userDeviceId' \/><input type='hidden' name='pageTitle' id='pageTitle' \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id='formButtonRow' class='container mt-1 px-0'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner btn btn-dark text-uppercase py-2 px-5 small\" id=\"theSubmitButton\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"post_id\" value=\"3693029\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"source\" value=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/cryptocurrency\/2026\/why-the-anchorage-ceo-wants-3999-crypto-bank-competitors\/\" \/><p style=\"display: none !important;\" class=\"akismet-fields-container\" data-prefix=\"_wpcf7_ak_\"><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"_wpcf7_ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" maxlength=\"100\"><\/textarea><\/label><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"ak_js_1\" name=\"_wpcf7_ak_js\" value=\"160\"\/><script>document.getElementById( \"ak_js_1\" ).setAttribute( \"value\", ( new Date() ).getTime() );<\/script><\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"article-paywall-hidden-content\">\r\n\t\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nathanmccauley\/\">Nathan McCauley<\/a> said something on the latest episode of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/podcast\/from-the-block\/\">From the Block<\/a>\u201d that should have stopped the conversation cold. It almost did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was one crypto bank, there are now nine, and what I want is 4,000,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anchorage.com\/\">Anchorage Digital<\/a> co-founder and CEO told PYMNTS CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/karenwebsterboston\/\">Karen Webster<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citi.com\/\">Citi<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ryanrugg\/\">Ryan Rugg<\/a>. \u201cI want every bank to become a crypto bank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then the kicker: \u201cIn a world where there are 4,000 banks, we\u2019re powering 3,999 of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are roughly 4,000 commercial banks in the United States. McCauley is saying he wants to be the silent infrastructure behind 99.99% of them.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not how founders of category-defining companies usually talk. The standard playbook, especially for a firm that fought eight years for the only federal crypto bank charter in the country, is to defend the moat. Keep competitors out, keep margins high, keep the franchise scarce. McCauley is doing the opposite. He is openly inviting thousands of competitors into the market and betting the company on being the layer underneath them.<\/p><div id=\"pymnt-2682791988\" class=\"pymnt-content pymnt-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\"><p style=\"text-align:center\">Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p><script async type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"dianomi_context_script\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dianomi.com\/js\/contextfeed.js\"><\/script> \r\n<div class=\"dianomi_context\" data-dianomi-context-id=\"4329\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>It is, in other words, an AWS strategy applied to crypto banking. McCauley\u2019s bet is that in regulated digital assets, the durable economics live in infrastructure, not in being the brand on the door.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Crypto Bank Pioneer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When McCauley started Anchorage in 2017, the thesis was almost taxonomic. As Webster summarized it, he looked at cryptocurrency and concluded that crypto needed a bank. That problem has now largely been solved, not just by Anchorage, but by the eight other regulated crypto banks that have emerged behind it, and by the regulatory clarity flowing out of Washington since the GENIUS Act.<\/p>\n<p>So, the moat is closing. McCauley\u2019s response is to reframe the game entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Anchorage is the regulated issuer behind <a href=\"https:\/\/tether.to\/en\/\">Tether<\/a>\u2019s U.S. stablecoin, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/ethena.fi\/\">Ethena<\/a>\u2019s and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernunion.com\/us\/en\/home.html\">Western Union<\/a>\u2019s. It is the custody rail behind <a href=\"https:\/\/securitize.io\/blackrock\/buidl\">BlackRock\u2019s BUIDL<\/a>. None of those institutions wanted to become a crypto bank themselves; they wanted a regulated counterparty that already was one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether that\u2019s around stablecoins, whether that\u2019s custody and trading as a back end, whether that\u2019s building their business on top of ours,\u201d McCauley said, \u201cwe are here to be the enabling infrastructure bank for the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pitch has shifted from \u201cwe are the only one who can do this\u201d to \u201cyou shouldn\u2019t have to do this yourself.\u201d That says McCauley believes the constraint on cryptocurrency banking is no longer regulatory access\u2014it is operational complexity, and the 3,999 banks that will never want to build it themselves.<\/p>\n<p>If there is a hole in the strategy, it\u2019s the dollar leg. Anchorage can custody, issue and settle digital assets. What it can\u2019t yet do is hold reserves directly at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/\">Federal Reserve<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Webster called the Fed master account \u201cthe real prize,\u201d and McCauley did not push back. Anchorage has a Tier 3 application pending. But his framing was telling. The master account is not about prestige; it\u2019s about closing the loop for clients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA number of our clients have come to us and just said, \u2018Hey, we love the technology. We wish that you guys could be our dollar bank as well,\u2019\u201d McCauley said. Direct Fed access, in his account, would let Anchorage build \u201csafer services\u201d by owning more of the operational and settlement stack, particularly for stablecoin flows, where the dollar reserve and the digital asset currently live in two different places.<\/p>\n<p>Read in the context of the 4,000-banks ambition, the master account is not a flex. It is the last missing component of a vertically integrated stack that other banks can plug into.<\/p>\n<p>The near-term catalyst for all of this is stablecoins, and McCauley thinks the pipeline is about to break open.<\/p>\n<p>He said Anchorage has \u201cin the neighborhood of 20 issuers in the pipeline\u201d wanting to issue through its rails, with demand accelerating after the GENIUS Act clarified the role of OCC trusts in scaled stablecoin issuance. Over the next two to three years, he expects \u201ca Cambrian explosion of stablecoins\u201d with every major institution with a reason to issue (capturing float, controlling user ecosystems, reducing third-party dependence) doing so.<\/p>\n<p>Webster pushed on the obvious question: how many stablecoins can the market actually sustain?<\/p>\n<p>The infrastructure bet is agnostic to which stablecoins win. Anchorage gets paid to issue them, custody them and settle them. That happens whether the brand on the front is Tether, Western Union or a regional bank that does not exist yet.<\/p>\n<p>Rugg, who advises corporates and financial institutions on digital asset strategy at Citi, framed the decision facing every bank in McCauley\u2019s addressable market in classic enterprise terms: build, buy or partner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you can\u2019t [build], and you can\u2019t build that architecture,\u201d Rugg said, \u201cyou\u2019re going to have to partner with someone who can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/julian-sevillano\/\">Julian Sevillano<\/a>, a senior advisor at Anchorage who has spent years guiding financial institutions through digital asset strategy, argued that the institutions most likely to succeed are those that extend existing strengths rather than treat crypto as a generic growth lane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlay to your strengths,\u201d he said. A global treasury bank should modernize treasury operations. A wealth manager should expand product access. The discipline is to define the business case before chasing the technology: \u201cWho could be my client? What would be the product that I could serve? Do I have the core competencies to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The consensus was clear: regulation is the unlock. \u201cYou need rules and guardrails,\u201d Sevillano said. \u201cYou need the right level of supervision and regulation to provide the environment for everybody to be able to operate in a trusted environment.\u201d Rugg added that the regulated entities with the safety, soundness and governance to scale within financial services \u201cmay be that unlock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The conventional way to read crypto\u2019s current moment is as a contest. Stablecoins versus banks, traditional finance versus DeFi, JPMorgan versus Tether. McCauley\u2019s pitch suggests that framing is already obsolete.<\/p>\n<p>The end state he is describing is not a winner-take-all market. It is an infrastructure layer. In that world, the question for every U.S. bank is not whether to do crypto. It is whether to build it themselves or rent it from the company that already has.<\/p>\n<p>McCauley has a number in mind for how that question gets answered: 3,999 to 1.<\/p>\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>\r\n\twindow.pymntsAllowedArticleCount = 2;\r\n\twindow.pymntsPostID = 3693029;\r\n<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore more conversations like this From the Block.\u00a0 Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content \u2014 no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today. By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3695655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34410],"tags":[65010,4055,9617,15885,167399,10829,9206,133069,72991,41360],"class_list":["post-3693029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-anchorage-digital","tag-b2b","tag-b2b-payments","tag-digital-assets","tag-from-the-block","tag-main-feature","tag-news","tag-pymnts-news","tag-pymnts-podcast","tag-stablecoins"],"acf":{"suggested_titles":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - 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