Crypto Firm LevelField Secures Illinois Approval to Acquire Burling Bank
CHICAGO – November 17, 2025 – LevelField Financial has received approval from the Illinois Department of Financial and professional Regulation (IDFPR) to acquire Chicago-based Burling Bank, the companies announced Monday. LevelField intends to rename the bank LevelField Bank and operate as a full-service, Federal deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured banking institution offering both traditional banking and digital asset services nationwide, including U.S. territories.
The acquisition marks a renewed effort by LevelField to establish a national banking presence. The company initially filed to acquire Burling Bank in February 2023 but withdrew that filing in February 2024, according to the IDFPR’s Regulatory Report 2024. A second filing was submitted in December 2024.
Following the closing of the transaction, LevelField Bank plans to offer a range of products and services, including loans and credit cards collateralized by Bitcoin, Bitcoin rewards credit and debit cards, digital asset trading and custody, and banking programs tailored to ”underrepresented industries” like the digital asset sector.
“LevelField Bank was designed to meet the needs of the bitcoin and digital asset community,” said LevelField Financial CEO Gene A. Grant II in a press release. “We’re among the first full-service FDIC-insured banks to receive approval to offer digital asset banking services, and we will seek to offer a best-in-class, true 24×7 bank delivering real-time payment and banking functionality for customers, including historically underbanked businesses.”
Bloomberg reported the initial filing withdrawal followed the collapse of crypto-pleasant banks Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank. The second filing reportedly came after the election of President Donald Trump, who has stated his intention to make the United States the “crypto capital.”
Burling Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. LevelField Financial first announced its plans to become a chartered bank offering both traditional and digital asset services in a february 2023 press release, initially anticipating the transaction to close by the end of 2023.
