Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm said on September 3 that it is leading a $25 million seed round in OpenReserve, a startup building what it calls a “continuous” bank that never closes. The announcement describes OpenReserve as a bank powered by a programmable core ledger, designed for the instant settlement that tokenized deposits and stablecoins make possible.
A Bank Built Like a Blockchain
The venture firm argued that banking remains the bottleneck of modern finance even as the internet transformed most other industries. Traditional banks still open and close, and money still moves at the speed of ACH and wire transfers, the firm said, while fintech has mostly changed only the front end of financial services.
OpenReserve is positioned as the answer: a bank that is always open and always available, combining continuous money movement with the compliance and security expected of a regulated institution. The company did not disclose a launch date or charter status in the announcement.
Combining Continuous Money With Regulated Credit
The core thesis is that stablecoins move money continuously but do not create credit, while banks create credit but cannot operate natively on-chain. OpenReserve aims to combine the two, building regulated credit on top of always-on money and a ledger that can settle transactions instantly. The firm’s founder, Dee Choubey, previously built the consumer finance platform MoneyLion.
Andreessen Horowitz said venture capital has historically avoided banks because banking was not driven by technological innovation, but argued that has changed as stablecoins mature into better money and lending expertise becomes scarce.
Why New Banks Are Drawing Capital
De novo bank charters collapsed after the global financial crisis and have only recently begun to recover, which the investor framed as an opening for a purpose-built institution that can win customer trust while operating on modern infrastructure. The round follows other recent capital flowing into stablecoin-linked banks, including Augustus’s $180 million raise for a stablecoin clearing bank.
Andreessen Horowitz did not disclose the other investors in the round or how the capital will be allocated between technology, licensing and lending operations. The company also has not named a public launch timeline.
