Bastion, a new cryptocurrency startup founded by two former Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) executives, has been granted two money transmitter licenses (MTL) in the United States.
Bastion has obtained its first two MTL licenses in New Hampshire and Arkansas, the company announced on October 31.
The new licenses issued by the New Hampshire Banking Department and Arkansas Securities Department will allow Bastion to provide services for fungible digital assets in each state. The company stated that it has additional MTL applications pending in other U.S. states.
The license acquisitions allow Bastion to engage in activities involving the sale or issuance of payment instruments, stored value, prepaid access, and the receipt of money and digital currency to facilitate transactions with others in the states. On the official website of the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS), licenses can be located.
The licenses arrive just one month after Bastion’s mid-September 2023 release. The regulatory approvals demonstrate Bastion’s commitment to enabling U.S. businesses to expose their consumers to digital assets such as Bitcoin in a compliant manner.
Bastion was founded by two former administrators of a16z’s crypto division, Nassim Eddequiouaq and Riyaz Faizullabhoy, to integrate Web3 infrastructure with their existing enterprise technologies. A16z crypto led a $25 million pilot funding round that coincided with the announcement of the launch of Bastion.
“The acquisition of MTLs in New Hampshire and Arkansas is a significant step toward achieving our long-term vision,” said Eddequiouaq, co-founder of Bastion.
He added that the company views the achievement as a “testament to the strength and speed” of Bastion and looks forward to maintaining the momentum as it expands its operational areas.
Bastion joins a growing list of crypto-related companies that have obtained the MTLs, including Alchemy Pay, Coinbase, Jack Dorsey’s Block, MoonPay, the bitFlyer exchange, and others.
According to reports, Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) subsidiary received its first MTLs in Michigan, New Hampshire, and Missouri in July 2023.
