Circle Receives Final OCC Approval To Establish Circle National Trust Bank

Stablecoin issuer Circle said it received the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s approval to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., operating as Circle National Trust, a national trust bank under direct federal oversight.

Circle said the bank will initially offer fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates, with reserve management planned as a future capability.

AMBCrypto

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire framed the move as “a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” and the company said the charter strengthens USDC’s infrastructure through federally regulated custody.

The approval follows Circle’s application submitted on June 30, 2025 and conditional approval in December, 2025, and Circle said the charter is designed to align USDC infrastructure with fiduciary standards applied to traditional trust banks.

Circle also said the trust bank advances USDC’s role as “trusted, federally regulated digital dollar infrastructure for payments, settlement, and capital markets activity,” while CNBC reported the approval did not greenlight Circle to operate as a commercial bank that takes deposits and makes loans.

CNBC reported that the trust structure gives Circle the ability to manage reserves directly for its regulated stablecoins, primarily the USDC stablecoin, which CNBC said has more than $73 billion in circulation.

Circle’s business plan, as quoted by American Banker, says the trust bank “may eventually offer its digital asset custody service to a limited number of institutional customers directly, focusing on banks and other financial institutions, such as regulated derivatives organizations.”

American Banker

American Banker also quoted a Circle spokesperson saying, “Circle National Trust is authorized to open on or after July 10, 2026, and we expect to open the bank shortly thereafter,” while noting the OCC did not institute a timeline or deadline for opening.

FS Vector managing principal Jasper Sneff-Nanni told American Banker that “Opening the national trust bank is a tremendous accomplishment for Circle and, for stablecoins, a step into the world of the GENIUS Act.”

The approval comes as the GENIUS Act established a federal framework for payment stablecoins, and CNBC said large stablecoin issuers like Circle are required to obtain an OCC charter.

Banking Dive reported that Circle was one of five firms whose national trust bank charter applications were conditionally approved in December by the OCC, alongside Ripple, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity, with BitGo receiving its unconditional charter shortly thereafter.

“Stablecoin issuer Circle has received the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s unfettered approval for a national trust bank license, the company announced Friday”

Banking Dive

Banking Dive also said the OCC’s trust charter approvals drew backlash from banking trade groups including the Bank Policy Institute and Independent Community Bankers of America, as well as the nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which argued a trust would not be forced to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act.

In response to the broader regulatory push, Circle’s charter was described by CNBC as replacing a patchwork of state regulations with a single federal supervisor, and CNBC said this was a major pain point for fast-paced startups in regulated financial services.

Circle’s strategy officer Dante Disparte told CNBC that “We think of ourselves as a pioneer in ensuring that — even from the very earliest days of stablecoins entering the stream of commerce — they ought to follow the norms for trust, transparency, safety, financial crime compliance and the rest,” and he said the announcement “codifies that at the federal level.”

Circle’s approval also arrived alongside other stablecoin and payments moves, with CNBC noting that the OCC charter approval came on the same day Swift launched a blockchain consortium with 17 banks, including Citi and HSBC, in a 24/7 payments push.