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Hassan Shittu
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Fintech unicorn Crypto-friendly Revolut is dropping its planned acquisition of an American bank in favor of an independent banking license on its way to expand in the US market, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The report referred to individuals who are knowledgeable of the issue that Revolut has been negotiating with authorities in the U.S. regarding submitting an application to obtain a bank license via the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The shift comes as regulatory attitudes in Washington soften toward fintechs and crypto firms.
Revolut Points to Softer U.S. Regulation as It Adjusts Expansion Plans
The UK-based fintech, valued at about $75 billion following a November share sale, had spent much of 2025 exploring the purchase of a nationally chartered US bank.
An acquisition would have allowed Revolut to bypass the lengthy process of applying for a banking charter from scratch and immediately gain the ability to lend across all 50 states.
As recently as July, executives believed this approach would be the quickest way to scale operations in the US.
This perception has already changed, as the company is currently gambling that the approval process can be completed faster in the Trump administration since the regulatory environment has become a lot lighter than it was in the past few years.
Revolut admitted that the US is the key to its long-term growth strategy and emphasized that it wanted to have a bank in the country but noted that no final decision has been made yet and plans may change.
Internally, the rethink is based on fears of the purchase of a community bank being problematic, such as the necessity to use physical branches and a more complicated approval procedure for any changes in ownership.
De novo license application, which has traditionally been slow, is now considered more predictable (and consistent with the Revolut digital-first model).
National Trust Charters Emerge as Key Path for Crypto and Fintech Firms
The relocation will put Revolut on a list of increasingly popular fintech and crypto-native companies that are pursuing national charters.
The OCC itself has received approximately 13 new bank and trust license applications in 2025 alone, which is close to the number of the past four years combined.
The regulator, in December, gave conditional approval to five crypto-based companies to become national trust banks, as well as BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos, to turn current state licenses into national ones.
The US banking license would provide Revolut with greater access to the dollar clearing, custody, and compliance infrastructure, which could be valuable to its stablecoin and crypto offerings at a time when federal oversight is becoming the selling point to both institutional and retail customers.
Although national trust charters prohibit taking deposits or lending, they do provide regulatory visibility that a number of crypto companies have long been craving.
Revolut Strengthens Role as Bridge Between Banks and Crypto
Notably, Revolut has gradually developed its crypto service and established itself as a gateway between conventional finance and digital assets.
In October, the company eliminated all fees and spreads on the conversions of the US dollar into major stablecoins USDC and USDT.
The volume of stablecoin payments on the platform is projected to have increased by 156% in 2025 to approximately 10.5 billion due to daily payment transactions and not because of speculative trading.
Additionally, Revolut has also increased its global growth, gaining banking licenses in Colombia and Mexico, a crypto regulatory license in Cyprus, and more than 1 billion investments in France by 2028.
It is also said to consider a dual listing in London and New York, the move that would further establish its position as one of the most valuable fintechs in the world.
