<div data-elementor-type="wp-post" data-elementor-id="110" class="elementor elementor-110" data-elementor-settings="[]"><div class="elementor-inner"><div class="elementor-section-wrap"><section class="elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7d6e195 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default" data-id="7d6e195" data-element_type="section"><div class="elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default"><div class="elementor-row"><div class="elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-78c92b9" data-id="78c92b9" data-element_type="column"><div class="elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated"><div class="elementor-widget-wrap"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-f0e7b3e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor" data-id="f0e7b3e" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="text-editor.default"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div class="elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix"><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">May 5th, 2021; Cheyenne, WY</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> –</span>&nbsp;</p><p>Statement from Caitlin Long, founder, chairman and CEO, Avanti:<br></p><p>“To see the Federal Reserve propose to formally recognize nontraditional bank charters as eligible for payment system access is a welcome development. It’s a great stride for the system and industry, and we appreciate the consistency and transparency this framework would afford. We also applaud the Fed’s openness to greenlighting innovation. This move toward federal recognition validates the pioneering work the state of Wyoming has done to introduce a wave of innovation in financial services. Wyoming’s special purpose depository institution (SPDI) framework for nontraditional banks &#8212; the first novel bank charter in the U.S. in decades &#8212; fits within the Fed’s proposed principles. As the second recipient of an SPDI charter, Avanti looks forward to demonstrating in practice that SPDIs can and do meet the highest regulatory standards for safety and soundness, with rigorous oversight.”</p><p>Interested parties and potential customers can contact Avanti at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@avantibank.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">info@avantibank.com</a>.</p><p>* Patent Pending</p><p><b><u>About Avanti:</u></b>&nbsp; Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a&nbsp;<span>Wyoming</span>&nbsp;bank formed to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti is required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act and federal &#8220;know your customer,&#8221; anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. Avanti will also comply with&nbsp;<span>Wyoming&#8217;s</span>&nbsp;special purpose depository institution and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">© 2021 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></div>

Avanti Bank Statement on Federal Reserve Board Review of Payments System Access

<div data-elementor-type="wp-post" data-elementor-id="107" class="elementor elementor-107" data-elementor-settings="[]"><div class="elementor-inner"><div class="elementor-section-wrap"><section class="elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7d6e195 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default" data-id="7d6e195" data-element_type="section"><div class="elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default"><div class="elementor-row"><div class="elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-78c92b9" data-id="78c92b9" data-element_type="column"><div class="elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated"><div class="elementor-widget-wrap"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-f0e7b3e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor" data-id="f0e7b3e" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="text-editor.default"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div class="elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix"><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">March 25, 2021; Cheyenne, WY</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> –</span> Avanti Financial Group today announced the closing of its Series A financing round, which raised <span class="xn-money">$37 million</span> for the start-up digital asset bank. Use of proceeds is to fund Avanti&#8217;s required regulatory capital needed for launch, as well as to fund engineering build and other operating expenses. The offering was upsized twice due to market demand. Avanti has raised a total of <span class="xn-money">$44 million</span> since its inception.<span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p><p>Series A shareholders include a global mix of institutional investors, cryptocurrency companies and family offices, as well as multiple Avanti executives and directors. Individual investors prominent in the cryptocurrency, tech and traditional asset management industries include <span class="xn-person">Trace Mayer</span>, <span class="xn-person">Marcel Kasumovich</span>, <span class="xn-person">Rob Kauffman</span> (Aldel Capital), <span class="xn-person">Tim Keefe</span>, <span class="xn-person">Lawrence Lepard</span>, <span class="xn-person">Eric Ly</span> and others. Institutional investors include 1843 Capital, AP Capital, Banca del Ceresio, Binance.US, Coinbase Ventures, ECMC Group, Equity Management Associates, Greybull Stewardship, Hard Yaka, HashKey, Holon Global Investments, Lemniscap, Madison Paige Ventures, Morgan Creek Digital, PJT Partners, Slow Ventures, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments and The <span class="xn-org">University of Wyoming</span> Foundation, among others. PJT Partners acted as sole placement agent for Avanti.</p><p>&#8220;As Bitcoin and digital asset markets mature and financialization network effects take root, there is a tremendous need for both well crafted laws and experienced, competent operators. When surveying the globe, in my opinion <span class="xn-location">Wyoming</span> best meets these needs generally, and the Avanti team specifically is among the most potent institutional-quality human capital,&#8221; said <span class="xn-person">Trace Mayer</span>, who formed the consortium that led Avanti&#8217;s Series A and is an early Bitcoin adopter and investor in Bitcoin industry infrastructure. &#8220;Avanti is extremely well positioned to competently answer questions that most in the industry have not even thought about yet.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We thank our investors for helping Avanti build a new breed of bank that services Bitcoin and also offers meaningful API capabilities for U.S. dollar transactions to tech-savvy customers,&#8221; said <span class="xn-person">Caitlin Long</span>, Avanti&#8217;s founder and chief executive officer. &#8220;Our roadmap includes offering API-based U.S. dollar payment services for wires, ACH and SWIFT; issuance of our tokenized, programmable U.S. dollar called Avit<sup>™</sup>*; and custody and on-/off-ramp services for bitcoin and other digital assets. We have received more than 2,500 inbound customer inquiries since announcing receipt of our bank charter in <span class="xn-chron">October 2020</span>, and we look forward to being able to service customers later this year. We expect to provide more details about our launch soon.&#8221;</p><p>Interested parties and potential customers can contact Avanti at <a href="mailto:info@avantibank.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">info@avantibank.com</a>.</p><p>* Patent Pending</p><p><b><u>About Avanti:</u></b>  Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a <span class="xn-location">Wyoming</span> bank formed to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti is required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act and federal &#8220;know your customer,&#8221; anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. Avanti will also comply with <span class="xn-location">Wyoming&#8217;s</span> special purpose depository institution and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">© 2021 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></div>

Avanti Completes $37 Million Series A Financing Ahead of Digital Asset Bank Launch

<div data-elementor-type="wp-post" data-elementor-id="93" class="elementor elementor-93" data-elementor-settings="[]"><div class="elementor-inner"><div class="elementor-section-wrap"><section class="elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7d6e195 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default" data-id="7d6e195" data-element_type="section"><div class="elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default"><div class="elementor-row"><div class="elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-78c92b9" data-id="78c92b9" data-element_type="column"><div class="elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated"><div class="elementor-widget-wrap"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-f0e7b3e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor" data-id="f0e7b3e" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="text-editor.default"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div class="elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix"><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">October 28, 2020; Cheyenne, WY</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> –</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The Wyoming State Banking Board today voted 8-0 to grant Avanti Bank &amp; Trust a bank charter, the type of which gives Avanti the same powers as national banks in its approved business lines. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Avanti’s approved business plan includes several products and services, including a tokenized U.S. dollar called Avit™*; custody services for digital assets as a “qualified custodian” under the Investment Advisers Act; API-based online banking services, where customer deposits must be 100% backed by reserves; and prime services for digital assets. Avanti plans to provide commercial accounts in early 2021 and other accounts with high minimum balance requirements soon thereafter. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Avanti’s mission is to provide a compliant bridge between the traditional and digital asset financial systems, with the strictest level of institutional custody standards,” said Caitlin Long, Avanti’s founder and chief executive officer. “We will provide products and services that do not exist in the market today. Currently the only type of U.S. financial institution that can provide final and simultaneous settlement of trades between digital assets and the U.S. dollar—because it is the only type currently approved to handle both within the same legal entity—is a Wyoming special purpose depository institution like Avanti. Wyoming has the only U.S. regulator with a bank supervisory and regulatory program for digital assets that is near completion.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Avanti’s approved products include the issuance of a tokenized U.S. dollar, Avit (rhymes with “have it”). Avit is designed to solve widely-acknowledged problems with legacy payment systems faced by traders, investors and corporate treasurers. Nicknamed the “stablecoin disruptor,” it is also designed to solve the legal, accounting and tax issues of stablecoins. “We need this product yesterday,” said the chief executive officer of one of Avanti’s likely initial customers, in describing Avit. Executed by a highly experienced and proven engineering team, Avanti plans to issue Avit initially on both Liquid (a sidechain of the Bitcoin blockchain, in coordination with Blockstream) and Ethereum, and will consider issuing Avit on other blockchains in the future based on customer demand and its assessment of network security.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a bank, Avanti will fully comply with all applicable Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and OFAC-related laws, rules and regulations.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Interested parties and potential customers can contact Avanti at </span><a href="mailto:info@avantibank.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">info@avantibank.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">* Patent Pending</span></p><p><b>About Avanti:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">  Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a Wyoming bank formed to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti will be required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act and federal “know your customer,” anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. Avanti will also comply with Wyoming’s special purpose depository institution and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">© 2020 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></div>

Avanti Granted Bank Charter And Approval Of Business Plan For Digital Asset Custody And Tokenized U.S. Dollar

<div data-elementor-type="wp-post" data-elementor-id="70" class="elementor elementor-70" data-elementor-settings="[]"><div class="elementor-inner"><div class="elementor-section-wrap"><section class="elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-30a15fc elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default" data-id="30a15fc" data-element_type="section"><div class="elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default"><div class="elementor-row"><div class="elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-52c50fe" data-id="52c50fe" data-element_type="column"><div class="elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated"><div class="elementor-widget-wrap"><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-26a8728 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor" data-id="26a8728" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="text-editor.default"><div class="elementor-widget-container"><div class="elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix"><p><i>July 23, 2020; Cheyenne, WY</i> – Avanti Financial Group, Inc. received formal notice from the Wyoming Division of Banking that Avanti’s application for a bank charter was accepted as complete on July 15, and that its application timeline has been accelerated. As a result, Avanti now expects to open for banking business as early as October 2020.</p><p>“Our charter application incorporates truly novel ideas that have received detailed scrutiny from multiple regulators. It is the culmination of an enormous effort by Avanti’s fantastic team &#8212; several thousand hours of planning and work with regulators, and hundreds of pages of supporting policies, procedures and documentation,” said Caitlin Long, founder and CEO.&nbsp;</p><p>Avanti also announced a new product to modernize US dollar payments, called Avit<span style="color: rgb(77, 81, 86); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">™</span>, which is also nicknamed ‘the stablecoin disruptor.’ Able to be issued only by a bank, Avit is not a security and will likely be treated as a cash equivalent. It offers legal certainty because it will be issued under existing U.S. commercial laws. Programmable via Avanti’s user-friendly API, Avit is designed for use by institutional traders and corporate treasurers when they prefer a real-time payment settlement solution in US dollars that does not suffer from the delayed settlement and chargeback issues of traditional payment solutions, or the legal, accounting and tax issues of stablecoins. This product builds on Avanti’s digital asset custody platform, executed by a highly experienced and proven engineering team.&nbsp;</p><p>“I’m thrilled that the OCC yesterday followed Wyoming in allowing banks to provide custody for digital assets,” Long continued. “Wyoming has been developing its digital asset custody initiative for two years and already has a comprehensive framework and supervisory process in place, which does not exist elsewhere. The OCC and 49 other states do not yet have in place the comprehensive legal structure necessary for enabling digital asset custody without significant legal risk. They also do not have a roadmap for courts to adjudicate disputes involving digital assets and do not provide the certainty in bankruptcy that Wyoming provides for digital asset custodians. Its prudential standards make Wyoming the only jurisdiction in the U.S. where digital asset custody in a bank can truly be executed in a safe and sound manner.”</p><p><b><u>About Avanti</u></b>:&nbsp; Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a Wyoming corporation formed to apply for a bank charter under Wyoming’s special purpose depository institution (“SPDI”) law. Based in Cheyenne, WY, it will likely do business under the name “Avanti Bank &amp; Trust.” Avanti expects to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti will be required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including federal “know your customer,” anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. As an SPDI, Avanti will also comply with Wyoming’s SPDI and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry.</p><p><b><u>Disclaimer and Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements</u></b>.&nbsp; The press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities of Avanti Financial Group, Inc., and does not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as &#8220;may&#8221;, &#8220;future&#8221;, &#8220;plan&#8221; or &#8220;planned&#8221;, &#8220;will&#8221; or &#8220;should&#8221;, &#8220;expected,&#8221; &#8220;anticipates&#8221;, &#8220;draft&#8221;, &#8220;eventually&#8221; or &#8220;projected&#8221;. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.</p><p></p><p>© 2020 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</p><div>&nbsp;</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></div>

Avanti Financial Group Announces Accelerated Charter Application

<p><em>July 8, 2020; Cheyenne, WY</em> –<strong> </strong>Avanti Financial Group, Inc. today announced its initial adviser appointments, which include an internet pioneer, a former official with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s bank supervision and regulation division and a top engineer who previously built a secure, regulated platform for digital asset custody. Avanti, which has submitted its application for a bank charter under Wyoming’s special-purpose depository institution law, expects to open its doors by early 2021 and to serve as a compliant bridge between digital assets and the U.S. dollar payments system.</p><p><strong>Christopher Allen</strong> &#8212; Christopher is a pioneer in internet cryptography and co-author of the TLS security standard, the cryptographic protocol that secures most of the internet’s traffic today. He is an entrepreneur and technologist who specializes in collaboration, security, and trust. Christopher’s recent emphasis has been on engines of trust such as blockchain, smart contracts, and smart signatures, in particular decentralized self-sovereign identity. Christopher is founder of Blockchain Commons, former co-chair of the W3C Credentials Community Group incubating specifications for decentralized identity, and a former principal architect at Blockstream.</p><p><strong>Katie Cox</strong> &#8212; Katie has over 30 years of bank regulatory experience. Most recently, as Manager of the Mergers &amp; Acquisitions Section of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2010-2020, she was a key official responsible for mergers and acquisitions of banks within the Federal Reserve System. During her career, she presented policy setting bank mergers and acquisition proposals to numerous chairs of the Federal Reserve System. She also was a key developer of Federal Reserve System guidance, including SR13-7 <em>State Member Bank Branching Consideration</em>s and SR 14-2 <em>Enhancing Transparency in the Applications Process</em>.</p><p><strong>Bob McElrath </strong>&#8212; Bob most recently was the lead blockchain architect at Fidelity Digital Assets, which is the digital asset subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, where he built a secure, regulatory-compliant platform for custody of Bitcoin and related services. Prior to that, he was Chief Scientist and Chief Technology Officer of Vida Identity (now Atakama, a subsidiary of SolidX), a senior software engineer at Bloomberg, LP, and Chief Technology Officer of Ribbit Rewards (now Loyyal). Bob earned a PhD in theoretical particle physics from the University of Wisconsin. He completed a fellowship at CERN and post-docs at UC-Davis and the University of Heidelberg. </p><p><strong>About Avanti:</strong>&nbsp; Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a Wyoming corporation formed to apply for a bank charter pursuant to Wyoming’s special-purpose depository institution (“SPDI”)&nbsp; laws. Based in Cheyenne, WY, it will likely do business under the name “Avanti Bank &amp; Trust.” Avanti expects to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti will be required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including federal “know your customer,” anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. Avanti will also comply with Wyoming’s SPDI and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry.</p><p>© 2020 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</p>

Avanti Financial Group Appoints Advisers To Assist With Building A New Type of Bank

<p>CHEYENNE, Wyo., June 2, 2020 &#8211;Avanti Financial Group, Inc. today announced the closing of its angel round of funding, which positions Avanti to achieve required milestones in its process of applying for a bank charter. The round was led by the University of Wyoming Foundation with participation from Morgan Creek Digital, Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Lemniscap, Madison Paige Ventures, Malex Enterprises, Susan B. Anthony, LLC and others, including Gary Gigot and other individual supporters of the cryptocurrency and fintech industries.</p><p>&#8220;We are building critical infrastructure for the digital asset industry at Avanti, and the magnitude and mix of our support underscore that multiple camps want to see this infrastructure built,&#8221; said&nbsp;Caitlin Long, founder and chief executive officer. &#8220;Our round was significantly oversubscribed just from incoming inquiries alone, and I&#8217;m especially proud of the broad support Avanti received from&nbsp;Wyoming-based organizations and individuals.&#8221;</p><p>Philip Treick, Chief Investment Officer of the&nbsp;University of Wyoming&nbsp;Foundation, said &#8220;The Investment Committee voted to invest in Avanti because we see significant growth potential for digital assets, we see an acute need for institutional-quality infrastructure to support this new asset class, and we believe in the ability of Caitlin&#8217;s team to deliver it. UW has already benefited significantly from cryptocurrency donations but we have faced real logistical challenges in accepting them. We are confident Avanti can simplify and streamline the process for donors making it easier to raise even more money to support UW&#8217;s blockchain efforts, including our WyoHackathon, which have already gained UW worldwide recognition. We are also pleased to support a high-profile economic development initiative for the&nbsp;State of Wyoming.&#8221;</p><p>The&nbsp;University of Wyoming&nbsp;Foundation&#8217;s Investment Committee engaged attorneys at Fairfield &amp; Woods P.C. to represent it and other angel round investors, and designated Mr. Treick to fill its seat on Avanti&#8217;s board of directors.</p><p><strong><u>About Avanti:</u></strong>&nbsp; Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a&nbsp;Wyoming&nbsp;corporation formed to apply for a bank charter pursuant to&nbsp;Wyoming&#8217;s&nbsp;special-purpose depository institution (&#8220;SPDI&#8221;)&nbsp; laws. Based in&nbsp;Cheyenne, WY, it will likely do business under the name &#8220;Avanti Bank&nbsp;&amp; Trust.&#8221; Avanti expects to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti will be required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including federal &#8220;know your customer,&#8221; anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. Avanti will also comply with&nbsp;Wyoming&#8217;s&nbsp;SPDI and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry.</p><p>© 2020 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</p><p>For information please contact:<br><a href="mailto:info@avantibank.com" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">info@avantibank.com</a></p>

Avanti Financial Group Closes Funding Round, Positioning It For Bank Charter Application Process

<p>Avanti Financial Group today announced appointments to its leadership team. The company, which plans to apply for a bank charter under&nbsp;Wyoming&#8217;s&nbsp;special-purpose depository institution law, expects to open its doors by early 2021 and to serve as a compliant bridge between digital assets and the U.S. dollar payments system.</p><p>&#8220;We have assembled a team of all-stars who have significant experience in regulated financial institutions,&#8221; said&nbsp;Caitlin Long, founder and CEO. &#8220;We&#8217;re building a bridge that doesn&#8217;t yet exist between two different financial systems, and this team has top-quality execution skills to do it.&#8221;</p><p>Members of the team will work along with Avanti&#8217;s technology partner, Blockstream. They are:</p><p><strong>Bryan Bishop</strong>,&nbsp;<em>co-founder, chief technology officer</em>: A Bitcoin Core developer, Mr. Bishop was senior blockchain engineer and custody architect of LedgerX, the first CFTC-regulated options exchange and clearinghouse for digital assets, from 2014-2018. He recently created Bitcoin Vaults, a pre-signed anti-theft recovery and clawback mechanism for bitcoin. He has significant prior software engineering experience and has worked on numerous open-source software projects. Mr. Bishop will also join Avanti&#8217;s board of directors.</p><p><strong>Britney Reddy</strong>,&nbsp;<em>co-founder, chief of banking operations and chief financial officer</em>: Ms. Reddy&nbsp; currently provides executive bank consulting services and has previously held CEO, president, CTO, CCO and COO roles at multiple&nbsp;Wyoming&nbsp;community banks. She is currently finishing an assignment and working part-time for Avanti, after which she has committed to join Avanti full-time. Ms. Reddy holds M.S., B.S. and B.A. degrees from the&nbsp;University of Wyoming.</p><p><strong>Zev Shimko</strong>,&nbsp;<em>co-founder, chief operating officer</em>: Mr. Shimko will be joining Avanti full-time in April. He is currently a director at Figure, focusing on its enterprise blockchain efforts, and before that he headed corporate development at SALT, a crypto-backed lender. He started his career at Morgan Stanley in global capital markets, where he was promoted as part of its STAR program and where he and Ms. Long worked together. Mr. Shimko holds a B.S. from&nbsp;Northeastern University.</p><p><strong>Chuck Thompson</strong>,&nbsp;<em>co-founder, chief compliance officer and chief legal officer</em>: Mr. Thompson was CEO of Blockchain Consulting LLC and was chief compliance officer of LedgerX, where he worked with Mr. Bishop. Before that, he was in-house counsel at capital markets firms, including Morgan Stanley, and practiced law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen &amp; Hamilton and Shearman &amp;&nbsp;Sterling. He holds a J.D. from the&nbsp;University of Illinois&nbsp;and a B.A. from&nbsp;Miami University.</p><p><strong>About Avanti:</strong>&nbsp; Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a&nbsp;Wyoming&nbsp;corporation formed to apply for a bank charter under&nbsp;Wyoming&#8217;s&nbsp;special-purpose depository institution (&#8220;SPDI&#8221;)&nbsp; law. Based in&nbsp;Cheyenne, WY, it will likely do business under the name &#8220;Avanti Bank&nbsp;&amp; Trust.&#8221; Avanti expects to serve as a compliant bridge to the U.S. dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti will be required to fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including federal &#8220;know your customer,&#8221; anti-money laundering and related laws and regulations. Avanti will also comply with&nbsp;Wyoming&#8217;s&nbsp;SPDI and digital asset laws, which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that Avanti meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry.</p><p>© 2020 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</p><p>For information please contact:<br><a href="mailto:info@avantibank.com" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">info@avantibank.com</a></p>

Avanti Financial Group Announces Leadership Team

<p>February 24, 2020; Cheyenne, WY – Avanti Financial Group announced plans today to launch a new US bank to serve the digital asset industry by offering solutions that can only be provided in the US by a regulated bank. Avanti, which recently raised its seed round of funding, is preparing an application to obtain a bank charter from the Wyoming Division of Banking under Wyoming’s special-purpose depository institution (SPDI) law. Subject to approval of its application, Avanti plans to open its doors by early 2021.</p><p><br>Avanti is supported by a strategic technology partnership with Blockstream, the leading software company focused on the Bitcoin protocol. Terms were not disclosed. As demand from institutional customers warrants, Avanti plans to service assets for multiple digital asset protocols.<br></p><p>Avanti’s charter would permit it to engage in a range of payment, custody, securities and commodities activities for institutional customers that use digital assets. For various regulatory reasons, certain of these activities are not currently available from US banks or trust companies. Avanti plans to break that logjam and thereby help keep the US from falling behind other countries whose regulated banks are already serving institutions in this rapidly growing market.</p><p><br>Caitlin Long, a veteran of both Wall Street and digital assets, and Avanti’s founder and chief executive officer, said, “A crucial step in the digital asset industry’s evolution is the formation of a new bank dedicated to bridging digital assets with the US dollar payments system in a compliant manner, and the provision of custodial services that meet the strictest institutional standards.” Long continued, “This critical piece of industry infrastructure does not exist in the US yet, and creating it will unlock many new products and services around digital assets that only a regulated US bank can provide directly. Many new potential institutional users of digital assets either must deal with a US regulated bank&#8211;or for many reasons prefer to do so&#8211;and once such a bank exists, these institutions can finally gain confidence to enter the rapidly growing market.”</p><p><br>Dr. Adam Back, CEO and co-founder of Blockstream, said, “This partnership combines the best in Bitcoin applications with the optimal regulatory vehicle for delivering products and services to institutional customers that require regulated providers. Blockstream’s platforms fit well with Wyoming’s property-rights centric digital asset laws, which will enable Avanti to introduce products into US dollar markets that do not exist today.”</p><p><strong>About Avanti</strong>: Avanti Financial Group, Inc. is a Wyoming corporation formed to apply for a bank charter under Wyoming’s special-purpose depository institution law. Based in Cheyenne, WY, it has applied to do business under the name “Avanti Bank &amp; Trust.” Avanti plans to serve as a compliant bridge to the US dollar payments system and a custodian of digital assets that can meet the strictest level of institutional custody standards. Avanti must fully comply with all applicable federal know-your-customer, anti-money laundering and related laws, as well as with Wyoming’s SPDI and digital asset laws, among which include requirements that fiat deposits be 100% reserved and that it meet the strictest consumer protections in the digital asset industry.</p><p><br><strong> About Blockstream</strong>: Blockstream is the global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain infrastructure. Blockstream’s sidechain technology (Liquid Network) enables faster Bitcoin settlements, while empowering financial institutions to tokenize assets. The Cryptocurrency Data Feed, developed in partnership with Intercontinental Exchange, delivers best-in-class real-time and historical exchange data. Blockstream Green is the world’s most advanced consumer Bitcoin wallet. Blockstream was founded in 2014, with offices and team members distributed around the world.</p><p><br> © 2020 Avanti Financial Group, Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.</p><div class="wp-block-file"><a href="https://avantibank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/avanti-press-release-0001.pdf">avanti-press-release-0001</a><a href="https://avantibank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/avanti-press-release-0001.pdf" class="wp-block-file__button" download>Download</a></div><p></p>

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