Circle Wins Final OCC Approval To Establish Circle National Trust Bank

Circle received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, operating as Circle National Trust, after applying in June 2025 and receiving conditional approval in December 2025.

“Circle soars after securing U”

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The approval gives Circle the ability to provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates, while reserve management is described as a future capability rather than an immediate service.

@coindesk

Circle National Trust is set up as First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., and the charter places the bank under direct federal oversight by the OCC.

Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire said the approval “marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” linking the move to federally supervised infrastructure for USDC.

The OCC approval is also described as strengthening USDC infrastructure through federally-regulated custody, with reserve management planned as a future capability.

Multiple outlets describe the trust bank as focused on custody and fiduciary services, with the charter not greenlighting Circle to operate as a commercial bank that takes deposits and makes loans.

Banking Dive says Circle National Trust will offer fiduciary digital asset custody services and plans to provide reserve management later, while also noting the bank could provide reserve management under OCC supervision.

AMBCrypto

CoinDesk similarly frames national trust banks as authorized to provide custody and fiduciary services without accepting consumer deposits or making loans like traditional commercial banks.

Circle’s business plan, as quoted in StockTitan’s Business Wire text, says “depending on demand, FNDCB 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.”

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

The approval arrives as crypto firms seek federal charters and custody permissions, with Banking Dive describing that Circle was one of five firms whose national trust bank charter applications were conditionally approved in December by the OCC.

“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 reports that Circle’s share price rose 15.6% before it leveled off toward an adjusted close, up 5.7%, and it also cites Mizuho Securities analyst Dan Dolev calling the market reaction “likely overly optimistic.”

CNBC places the move in a broader stablecoin regulatory push, saying the GENIUS Act established a federal framework for payment stablecoins and that large stablecoin issuers like Circle are required to obtain an OCC charter.

CNBC also quotes Circle’s chief strategy officer Dante Disparte saying, “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 that “Today’s announcement codifies that at the federal level.”

Circle’s approval is described as part of an OCC-driven wave that includes approvals or applications from Coinbase, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple, and Paxos, and it is positioned as strengthening USDC’s role as “trusted, federally regulated digital dollar infrastructure for payments, settlement, and capital markets activity.”