Anchorage just locked in another stablecoin partnership, and they're not being shy about why—their regulated status is basically their secret weapon right now. While everyone's scrambling to figure out compliance, they're already operating as a federally chartered digital asset bank, which means they can play in spaces others can't even touch yet.

What's happening here isn't just about one more stablecoin getting issued. It's about how regulation is becoming the actual competitive moat in crypto custody. Anchorage has been leaning hard into this angle, positioning their OCC charter as the reason why issuers should trust them over less regulated alternatives. And honestly, in today's environment where regulators are circling? That pitch is landing.

The interesting part is timing. Stablecoin regulations are tightening globally, and major issuers are getting pickier about who handles their infrastructure. Anchorage saw this coming and built their entire strategy around being the "safe choice"—not the flashiest, not the cheapest, but the one you won't get burned working with when the SEC comes knocking.

Whether this model scales long-term is another question entirely, but for now, they're collecting wins while others are still sorting out their compliance frameworks.