Key takeaways:
- Circle has received final approval from the OCC to operate Circle National Trust, a federally regulated national trust bank
- The charter allows Circle to offer regulated digital asset custody and eventually manage USDC reserves internally, but does not permit deposits or loans
- Anchorage Digital Bank has held a similar charter since 2021, and BitGo secured full OCC approval in December 2025, ahead of Circle
Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate Circle National Trust, a federally regulated national trust bank.
The OCC converted Circle’s conditional approval, granted in December 2025, into a full charter on July 10, according to a statement from the company.
The bank will initially provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates, with the OCC’s approved business plan allowing for future expansion to institutional clients such as banks and regulated financial institutions.
Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s co-founder and chief executive officer, described the approval as “a defining step” in bringing blockchain technology into the core of the U.S. financial system.
Circle is not the first crypto firm to hold this kind of charter. Anchorage Digital Bank has operated under a national trust charter since 2021. And BitGo, one of five companies including Circle, Ripple, Paxos and Fidelity Digital Assets that received conditional OCC approval in December 2025, had its approval upgraded to full, unconditional status immediately afterward, ahead of Circle’s own final approval in July.
Within the current wave of stablecoin-focused applicants, Circle is the first to complete the process. Ripple applied to establish its own national trust bank in July 2025 to support its RLUSD stablecoin, while Paxos applied in August to convert its existing New York trust charter into a federal one. Both remain at the conditional approval stage.
What the charter allows, and what it doesn’t
Meanwhile, Circle National Trust is a national trust bank, not a commercial bank. It cannot accept retail deposits, make loans, or issue mortgages or credit cards. Its core function is providing fiduciary services, primarily digital asset custody, under direct OCC supervision.
Under the terms of its approval, Circle plans to move USDC issuance itself to a separate, state-regulated entity, a limited-purpose trust company it has applied to establish with the New York Department of Financial Services. Circle National Trust will not issue USDC directly. Managing the reserves that back USDC remains listed as a future capability rather than something the bank will do at launch.
The approval comes amid a broader wave of crypto and fintech firms seeking OCC charters. Coinbase received preliminary approval in April and has since advanced to conditional status, while Crypto.com secured an OCC license in February to operate as a federally regulated crypto custodian.
Stripe-owned Bridge secured conditional approval in February, and the list of applicants has widened through 2026 to include Trump-backed World Liberty Financial, Nomura-backed Laser Digital, Payoneer, Morgan Stanley, Zerohash, Charles Schwab and Kraken parent Payward, among others.
The approval follows the passage of the GENIUS Act, a federal law establishing a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins that requires large issuers to obtain an OCC charter, hold reserves fully backed by cash or short-term Treasuries, and publish monthly reserve disclosures.
Circle shares rose sharply in pre-market trading following the announcement, though the stock remained down for the year overall. Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, continues to operate primarily under state-level regulation and has not obtained a comparable federal charter.