The Silicon Valley Bank collapse did not just punch a hole in balance sheets. It cracked confidence across the innovation economy. Founders building the future realized their money was parked in systems allergic to volatility, speed, and edge cases. Erebor shows up from that wreckage not as a rebound trade, but as a rebuild with intent. A bank designed by people who understand that capital only matters if it can move fast, stay compliant, and survive chaos without blinking.
Palmer Luckey does not operate in reverse. Joe Lonsdale does not fund small ideas. Alongside Trevor Capozza, Aaron Pelz, Jacob Hirshman, and Owen Rapaport, they built Erebor for companies most banks quietly ghost. Defense tech. AI infrastructure. Advanced manufacturing. Crypto-native businesses running 24/7. This is not retail banking cosplay. This is institutional plumbing for builders operating at the edge of regulation, risk, and scale.
The name is not decoration. Erebor was the Lonely Mountain, a fortress of reclaimed wealth, guarded and deliberate. That metaphor lands when you look under the hood. A de novo national bank with conditional OCC approval in Oct 2025 and FDIC insurance approved in Dec 2025. No sponsor-bank crutches. No regulatory workarounds. A full federal charter built to hold USD and stablecoins on balance sheet, under one rulebook, with zero ambiguity.
The capital stack backs the thesis. ~$350M raised in the latest round led by Lux Capital, joined by Founders Fund, 8VC, and Haun Ventures. Total funding now sits between $575–600M, supporting a $4.35B post-money valuation before launch. That number is not noise. It signals that serious investors believe regulated banking and digital assets are no longer separate conversations pretending not to see each other.
Leadership is where this sharpens. Owen Rapaport as CEO brings crypto compliance muscle. Jacob Hirshman as Chief Strategy Officer understands stablecoin infrastructure from the inside. Michael Hagedorn as President adds real bank gravity. Richard E. Grant as CFO, Vlad Dubinsky as Chief Credit Officer, and Joshua Rosenberg as Chief Risk Officer complete a team built for regulators, not excuses. Board members Diogo Mónica and Michael Mosier reinforce that this is a long-game institution.
Erebor plans to open in late 2026 or early 2027, starting with deposits and treasury services, then expanding into crypto-collateralized lending and global payment rails. Columbus, Ohio anchors operations. NY connects the markets. Everything else is digital by design. This is what happens when regulation, tech, and timing stop fighting and start moving in rhythm. The mountain is open, and capital finally has a place that understands how modern builders actually work.
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