The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved a de novo national bank charter for Erebor Bank, N.A., based in Columbus, Ohio, just four months after the application was filed on June 11, 2025. Erebor is the first de novo bank to receive preliminary conditional approval under Comptroller Jonathan Gould, who called the decision "a first but important step" toward a "dynamic and diverse federal banking system." The approval speed shattered typical banking charter timelines, which historically take one to two years.
Erebor Bank was co-founded by Palmer Luckey (founder of Anduril Industries) and Joe Lonsdale (co-founder of Palantir Technologies), with backing from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Lonsdale's 8VC, and Haun Ventures. The bank's name follows the Tolkien-derived naming convention shared by Palantir, Anduril, and Mithril Capital — Erebor being the dwarven fortress from The Hobbit, a mountain filled with treasure. The bank's co-CEOs are Owen Rapaport (co-founder of crypto compliance platform Aer Compliance) and Jacob Hirshman (formerly of stablecoin provider Circle).
Erebor's proposed business model targets technology companies, defense contractors, cryptocurrency firms, AI startups, payment service providers, and investment funds. The bank stated its goal is to become "the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions," with plans to hold stablecoins on its balance sheet, offer crypto-collateralized loans, and provide banking services via API. The OCC approval imposed conditions including a minimum 12% Tier 1 Leverage ratio for the first three years.
The FDIC subsequently approved Erebor's deposit insurance application, and by December 2025 the bank raised $350 million at a $4.35 billion post-money valuation in a round led by Lux Capital with participation from Founders Fund and 8VC. By February 2026, Erebor received full charter approval from the Trump administration.
Senator Elizabeth Warren raised alarms about the approval, citing a troubling Erebor investor memo that allegedly suggested the bank's "political network" and "unique connectivity to banking regulators" would ensure fast approval. Warren wrote that if the charter "represented a corrupt political favor to the President's billionaire supporters in Silicon Valley, it would have to be terminated." The fast-tracked approval raises significant regulatory capture concerns: the Thiel network now controls financial infrastructure specifically designed to serve the defense-tech ecosystem that Thiel-backed companies (Palantir, Anduril, Mithril) dominate, creating a vertically integrated pipeline from venture capital to defense contracting to banking.