Circle secures U.S. trust bank approval in crypto expansion

Circle (CRCL) received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, a move that places one of the largest stablecoin issuers under direct federal oversight.

National trust banks provide custody and fiduciary services but do not take deposits or make loans. Circle's new entity, Circle National Trust, will initially serve Circle and its affiliates, with plans to later offer custody to a limited number of institutional customers including banks and regulated financial firms.

CEO Jeremy Allaire called the approval "a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system." He said federal oversight sets "a new standard for transparency, governance and scale" for Circle's infrastructure.

The charter also opens the door for Circle to manage reserves backing its USDC stablecoin under OCC supervision, though the company said that capability remains in the future.

Circle applied for the charter in June 2025 and received conditional approval six months later. The final approval comes as a growing list of crypto firms pursue federal charters. Crypto.com secured an OCC license in February to operate as a federally regulated crypto custodian bank. BitGo, Circle, Ripple, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets all received similar conditional approvals in December.

USDC is the second-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin with about $73.2 billion in circulation, behind Tether's USDT at $184.1 billion.

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