Coinbase said it received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish its national trust company, allowing it to expand its digital-asset custody business under a federal regulatory framework.
The OCC’s licensing register lists Coinbase National Trust Company’s charter as effective Nov. 6, following an approval entry dated April 2. Coinbase announced the final clearance on Nov. 9, saying the regulator approved its application the previous Friday.
The development advances Coinbase beyond its earlier conditional clearance. Its custody business — which safeguards customers’ digital assets — can now expand under the federal framework described in the announcement, rather than remaining at the conditional-approval stage.
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The change is principally about the regulatory framework for custody, not Coinbase becoming a conventional commercial bank. When it announced conditional approval in April, the company said it would not take retail deposits or engage in fractional-reserve banking, the model in which banks lend out part of their deposits.
“This charter allows us to bring clear and consistent federal uniformity to our industry-leading custody capabilities,” Coinbase wrote in its November announcement.
From State Trust Oversight to a Federal Framework
Coinbase already had a regulated custody business before this approval. Its New York limited-purpose trust charter dates to 2018, according to the company. The new charter brings the national trust company’s trust activities under a consistent federal framework, Coinbase said.
That distinction matters for what the announcement establishes: federal oversight for an existing business, rather than the creation of custody services from scratch.
In April, Coinbase described the charter as a foundation for new products, “including payments and related services.” Its November announcement focused on expanding custody under federal oversight. The company’s earlier payments ambitions and the completed custody-charter approval are distinct claims; the final announcement did not describe a new payments product.
Coinbase said in April that Coinbase Inc. would continue under New York Department of Financial Services oversight and that its BitLicense and state trust charter would remain in place.
