The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs’ Ranking Member, Senator Elizabeth Warren, sent letters to Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould and Erebor Bank founder Palmer Luckey seeking information about an apparent Erebor fundraising memo that the bank did not provide in response to a February 2026 inquiry. The letters raise concerns that the memo implies the bank expected to obtain a national bank charter due to political connections, potentially indicating corruption in the chartering process or misleading statements to investors. The memo is described as claiming Erebor would “receive bank charter in less than 6 months from submission”; Warren noted the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted the charter on October 15, 2025, four months after submission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation approved federal deposit insurance two months later, with the bank opening on February 8, 2026. The correspondence also highlights business-model risk described in the memo, including lending against crypto assets, private securities, and GPUs for data center buildouts and AI-related projects, and a longer-term plan to deploy the bank’s own assets into decentralized finance, which Warren said was not referenced in the public section of the charter application. Responses are requested by May 6, 2026.
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 2026-04-23
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs presses OCC and Erebor Bank for records on fundraising memo citing political ties in charter approval
Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren sent letters to Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould and Erebor Bank founder Palmer Luckey seeking information about an Erebor fundraising memo not provided in response to a February 2026 inquiry. She raises concerns that the memo suggests Erebor expected to obtain a national bank charter due to political connections and outlines business-model risks—including lending against crypto assets, private securities and GPUs, and plans to deploy the bank’s own assets into decentralized finance—that were not referenced in the public section of the charter application.