Monet Bank, a small community bank in Texas owned by a billionaire supporter of President Donald Trump, has entered the crypto lending space, branding itself as an “infrastructure bank” focused on digital assets. “Monet aims to be the leading digital asset financial institution, providing innovative solutions for the digital economy,” its website states. Despite having under $6 billion in assets and just over $1 billion in capital, as per state records, the bank is classified as a very small community institution.
Established in 1988 as Beal Savings Bank, it rebranded to XD Bank earlier this year and then changed its name again two months later to Monet Bank. The state-chartered entity is regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and operates six branches, according to federal data.
Owner Andy Beal, who founded Beal Financial Corp., is recognized as a high-stakes poker player and was a significant backer of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, having contributed to his own political action committee. The Information reported on Monet Bank’s pivot towards digital assets earlier on Friday.
It joins a gradually emerging group of banks targeting the crypto sector. In October, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) awarded a conditional charter to Erebor Bank, a tech-oriented firm supported by Founders Fund’s Peter Thiel (who is also a backer of CoinDesk’s parent company, Bullish). Additionally, former executives from Signature Bank recently launched N3XT, a narrow bank registered as a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution that claims to facilitate instantaneous payments via a private blockchain.
This transition coincides with a broader shift in the approach of federal banking regulators towards cryptocurrency. Since Trump assumed office, his appointees have eased prior warnings to banks regarding crypto operations and introduced new guidance designed to facilitate better access to banking services for the crypto sector.
The acting chair of the FDIC, Travis Hill, informed lawmakers that his agency also intends to propose regulations for the crypto industry tied to the stablecoin-centric GENIUS Act during a recent hearing.
Beal’s firm did not respond promptly to a media inquiry sent to Beal Bank’s communication line.
