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Circle Wins Federal Bank Charter for USDC Reserve Management
The OCC granted Circle a national trust bank charter to manage USDC reserves under federal supervision, a first for a stablecoin issuer.
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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted Circle conditional approval on December 12, 2025, to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. The new entity, Charter #25361, is a de novo national trust bank headquartered in New York. It will manage the reserves backing roughly $62 billion in USDC on a fiduciary basis for Circle's US issuer. The charter also permits digital asset custody services for Circle affiliates.
The charter does not allow deposit-taking or any FDIC-insured activities. This is a trust bank, not a retail bank. Circle filed the application on June 30, 2025. The five-and-a-half-month turnaround from application to conditional approval is fast by the standards of crypto-related regulatory decisions.
Circle also plans to establish a separate limited-purpose trust company in New York specifically for USDC issuance. The structure splits the stablecoin issuer from the reserve manager, with the latter under direct federal supervision.
December 12 was a heavy day at the OCC. The regulator also granted a national trust bank charter to Ripple, creating Ripple National Trust Bank. It accepted state charter conversions from Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets on the same day.