Erebor Bank, the digital bank co-founded by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, is officially open for business in Columbus, planting a tech-heavy national bank in the middle of central Ohio. The neobank says it is targeting startups, crypto companies, defense contractors and high-net-worth founders, stepping into the niche that opened up after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.
According to Columbus Business First, Erebor has begun accepting customers in the city. Earlier this year, regulators granted the bank a national charter, clearing the crucial hurdle that lets it operate across the United States, as reported by Reuters.
What Erebor Says It Will Do
The FDIC’s deposit-insurance approval lays out Erebor’s game plan: focus on deposit and lending products for technology, payment systems, investment and defense firms, explicitly including virtual-currency market participants. The agency attached several conditions, including protocols for handling deposit accounts in the event of a failure and a 12 percent minimum tier-1 leverage ratio for the bank’s first three years, according to the FDIC.
Founders, Leadership and Funding
Documents obtained by reporters show Erebor was founded by Palmer Luckey and assembled a leadership team that blends tech founders with traditional banking veterans. Business Insider has detailed the company’s executive lineup, while large venture commitments backing the bank have been reported by Crowdfund Insider and other outlets.
Why Columbus
Erebor’s decision to base itself in Columbus lines up neatly with a major defense manufacturing build-out in the region. Anduril’s planned Arsenal-1 complex near Rickenbacker Airport is expected to bring thousands of jobs and nearly $1 billion in private investment, a development local leaders have eagerly promoted. The scale of the project and the incentives surrounding it have been covered by the Associated Press and WOSU Public Media.
Regulatory Scrutiny
The fast rollout has not exactly flown under the radar. In a February letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked for documents and raised concerns about potential political influence, writing that the bank “opened its doors on February 8, 2026” and requesting details about communications and meetings tied to the charter application. The letter is posted on the Senate Banking Committee’s website.
What to Watch Next
Investors, startups and policymakers will be watching whether Erebor can make its crypto-friendly, startup-focused model work while still hitting the FDIC’s capital and resiliency conditions. The OCC, which granted conditional approval in October, has framed the charter as part of keeping the federal banking system open to digital-asset activity when managed “in a safe and sound manner,” according to the OCC.
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