Key Facts

  • Coinbase National Trust Company's federal charter took effect Friday after US bank regulators granted final approval, the company said.

  • The charter replaces Coinbase's patchwork of state licenses with a single federal framework and clears the way for new payments and custody products.

  • Coinbase joins Ripple, Circle and BitGo in holding final OCC national trust charters, as the agency faces an October lawsuit from community banks challenging its authority to grant them.

Coinbase National Trust Company's federal charter took effect Friday after US bank regulators granted final approval, the company said.

The charter replaces Coinbase's patchwork of state licenses with a single federal framework and clears the way for new payments and custody products.

Coinbase joins Ripple, Circle and BitGo in holding final OCC national trust charters, as the agency faces an October lawsuit from community banks challenging its authority to grant them.

Coinbase Joins Ripple, Circle and BitGo With Full Charters

Under the new federal charter, Coinbase National Trust Company can offer custody nationwide without separate state money-transmitter licenses. Coinbase's charter application also outlined plans for institutional clients to access staking, financing, and trading through other Coinbase entities, plus digital-asset payment products and custody services for select smart contracts.

Charter Takes Effect Amid Banks' Lawsuit Against the OCC

The ICBA's complaint also seeks to vacate the conditional charter that the OCC granted Protego Holdings, and argues the agency has approved or conditionally approved at least 21 trust banks, at least 13 of them crypto companies.

Crypto(dot)com and Stripe-owned Bridge hold conditional OCC approval, while Kraken and EDX Markets have applications pending, putting at least 10 crypto and fintech firms at some stage of the federal chartering process.