“This is the best product in the history of the world but distribution is broken,” says Ferdinand Dabitz, holding up a $100 bill. Even though U.S. dollars are the world’s favorite currency, says Dabitz, many people seeking to get them must rely on an antiquated system of banks with limited hours staffed by clerks. The 25-year-old Dabitz is the CEO of a new type of bank called Augustus that he says addresses this deficiency thanks to a payments architecture designed around AI and stablecoins, not humans. In a sign that Augustus may be on to something, the bank just received a rare federal banking charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Founded in 2022, Augustus already holds payments licenses in Europe, which permit it to clear cross-border euro transactions. Its customers include large financial institutions, including the global cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, and Dabitz says the bank is processing billions of euros, while growing 10x year over year. Augustus has raised $40 million from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Creandum, and from the founders of prominent digital finance firms Ramp, Deel, and Circle.
According to Dabitz, the national bank charter the OCC granted to Augustus, which is conditional for now, is only the eighth such one the agency has issued since 2010. While the agency has handed out other charters to firms like Ripple, these have been in the form of trust charters and similar “skinny” licenses that can come with significant restrictions like a ban on accepting customer deposits or no access to Federal Reserve master accounts.
