Circle has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Circle National Trust. The move puts the USDC issuer deeper inside the federally supervised financial system as crypto companies seek banking licenses and charters.
Circle has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Circle National Trust. The move puts the USDC issuer deeper inside the federally supervised financial system as crypto companies seek banking licenses and charters.
The charter also supports Circle’s longer-term plan to manage reserves backing USDC under OCC supervision, although the company said reserve management remains a future capability. USDC is the second-largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, with about $73.2 billion in circulation, behind Tether’s USDT at $184.1 billion.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank. The new entity will operate as Circle National Trust and will be federally supervised.
The approval matters because it gives one of the largest stablecoin companies a clearer route into regulated U.S. financial infrastructure. National trust banks can provide custody and fiduciary services, though they do not take consumer deposits or make loans like traditional commercial banks.
Circle said the trust bank will initially provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates. Under its approved business plan, it could later serve a limited set of institutional customers, including banks and other regulated financial firms.
The charter also supports Circle’s longer-term plan to manage reserves backing USDC under OCC supervision, although the company said reserve management remains a future capability. USDC is the second-largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, with about $73.2 billion in circulation, behind Tether’s USDT at $184.1 billion.
Circle applied for the charter in June 2025 and received conditional approval six months later. Its final approval follows a broader push by crypto firms, including Crypto.com, Kraken, BitGo, Ripple, Paxos and Fidelity Digital Assets, to secure federal charters, licenses or banking approvals.
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