Summary

  • Coinbase said it has secured final federal trust bank charter approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, allowing it to expand across custody, payments and stablecoin businesses.
  • Coinbase said the approval will allow it to issue its own stablecoin and support other crypto companies with stablecoin issuance and management.
  • Coinbase said it has expanded its payments and stablecoin business while maintaining partnerships and a revenue-sharing agreement with Citigroup, Ripple and Circle, the issuer of USDC.

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Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, has won final approval for a federal trust bank charter, allowing it to broaden its business across custody, payments and stablecoins.

Bloomberg reported on November 9 that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave final approval last week to Coinbase’s application for a national trust bank charter. The OCC had granted Coinbase conditional approval in April, and the charter has now been finalized.

“This approval shows that digital assets have become a permanent part of the financial system,” Ryan VanGrack, a Coinbase vice president, told Bloomberg. “We are building the kind of institution that matches that reality, and we are now more closely connected to the federal regulatory infrastructure.”

A trust bank charter carries narrower powers than a full banking license. It does not allow a company to take deposits or make loans, but it does permit core financial services such as custody and trust operations. With the charter, Coinbase can issue its own stablecoin and support the issuance and management of stablecoins for other crypto companies.

Coinbase is already the world’s largest crypto custodian and had been expanding its payments and stablecoin operations even before receiving the charter. It recently partnered with Citigroup on fiat-to-stablecoin conversion services. In October, it also worked with Ripple to add Ripple’s stablecoin to its platform. Coinbase also maintains a revenue-sharing agreement with Circle, the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market value.

Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second administration, a number of crypto firms have applied to the OCC for trust bank charters. In addition to Coinbase, Circle and Ripple have also received final approval.

Minseung Kang