Hello everyone,
We are excited to announce the launch of ORO Bank - Asia’s first Full Reserve Digital Bank. ORO Bank was founded to serve the Kingdom of Bhutan’s Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region (SAR) as well as global startups and innovative emerging businesses.
ORO Bank is a Full Reserve Digital Bank which was established to address the core challenges facing the global banking sector today. Recently high inflation rates led key central banks to raise interest rates to the highest levels since 2001. While rate cuts are expected in the coming quarters, this is too late for banks which faced a liquidity crisis in 2023, when asset-liability mismatches precipitated unrealised losses of about US$620 billion and some of the largest bank failures in US history.
The “Fractional Reserve Banking System” was at the heart of these failures, with banks holding relatively small reserves against customer deposits, leaving them vulnerable to bank runs from often highly connected and concentrated customer bases.
ORO Bank customer deposits are fully backed by corresponding reserves, providing customers with peace of mind.
Our belief is simple – banks are here not to risk your savings, but to provide the financial infrastructure to enable personal, corporate and financial growth. ORO Bank’s foundational principles align with Bhutan’s core philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which calls for equitable socioeconomic development, cultural preservation, ecological sustainability and good governance.
While ORO Bank was established to serve the Mindfulness City SAR, we welcome customers from all corners of the world. We accept individual and corporate clients regardless of geography and income level. Our onboarding process is designed to enable startups and innovators with unproven, unconventional or potentially disruptive business models open accounts, leveraging cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence to implement dynamic and perpetual Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) protocols alongside global regulatory frameworks and best practices.
If you are a startup or aspiring entrepreneur, ORO Bank is your partner in innovation and growth. Account holders will have access to a broad ecosystem of TradFi and FutureFi services and the confidence that ORO will help them remain at the forefront of financial technology.
ORO Bank is regulated in Bhutan, which is often characterised as the “Switzerland of Asia” for its governance, geography and tranquillity. Operating within Bhutan’s Mindfulness City SAR, we offer global individuals and businesses a unique opportunity to bank in an ecosystem that promotes innovation, sustainability and mindfulness. In line with these values, ORO Bank will actively monitor and offset its carbon footprint and will donate 1% of our profits to initiatives that promote sustainability.
Bhutan’s Mindfulness City offers the opportunity to do business in a new way. Similarly, ORO Bank represents a transformative experience, delivering financial stability, peace of mind and a solid growth foundation for innovators and entrepreneurs in Bhutan and around the world.
We welcome innovators and entrepreneurs from Bhutan and around the world to collaborate with the ORO Bank team to co-create a safe and solid bank that delivers the products and features that your business needs to grow and thrive.
Welcome to ORO Bank!
Mike Kayamori
Founder and CEO ORO Bank