Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin USDC, has received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. The national trust bank, to be known as Circle National Trust, will provide custody and fiduciary services but will not accept consumer deposits or make loans like traditional commercial banks. According to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, the OCC approval sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure.
Background
The move comes as crypto firms increasingly seek federal charters, licenses, and banking approvals, with Crypto.com securing an OCC license in February to operate as a federally regulated crypto custodian bank. Circle’s bank will provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates when it opens, and may later offer custody services to a limited number of institutional customers. The charter also allows Circle to pursue future plans to manage reserves backing its USDC stablecoin under OCC supervision.
Implications
Circle applied for the charter in June 2025 and received conditional approval six months later, with the OCC’s final approval placing the trust bank under direct federal oversight. Circle’s USDC is the second-largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, with about $73.2 billion in circulation, behind Tether’s USDT with $184.1 billion.
Based on reporting from crypto.news.
