Crypto-focused bank backed by tech billionaires including Peter Thiel files for charter: report
A group of tech billionaires, including Peter Thiel, filed a charter to open a new U.S. bank focused on crypto business, the Financial Times reports
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A group of tech billionaires has filed a charter to open a new U.S. bank that would focus on serving startups and cryptocurrency companies, according to a new report.
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The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the move is led by Palmer Luckey, co-founder of defense company Anduril Industries and virtual reality company Oculus, to take Silicon Valley Bank’s place in the market after its collapse in 2023. The group of founders first talked about the idea after SVB’s failure, sources familiar with the matter told the FT.
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It is funded partly by Joe Lonsdale, founder of venture capital firm 8VC and co-founder of data analytics software company Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, Peter Thiel’s venture capital fund, sources familiar with the matter told the FT.
The report says Luckey and Lonsdale want this bank to be the top lender for riskier business, like startups and crypto, that other banks won’t take on. It would primarily serve businesses focused on virtual currencies, AI, defense, and manufacturing, and would serve companies outside the U.S. and individuals working for or investing in these companies, the FT says.
The group’s charter application says it wants to be “the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions,” the FT reports.
The new tech billionaire-backed bank would be called “Erebor,” after a mountain “whose treasures are reclaimed from the dragon Smaug” in J.R.R Tolkien’s book The Lord of the Rings, the FT reports. Thiel has already named at least five of his companies after Tolkien’s fantasy series.
Erebor is expected to have two CEOs: Jacob Hirshman, a former advisor to crypto firm Circle, and Owen Rapaport, according to the FT. Luckey and Lonsdale likely won’t be involved in the day-to-day, sources familiar with the matter told the FT.
The digital-only service will be headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with an additional office in New York, the publication reports.