After Ripple, Coinbase in turn obtains its federal banking license in the USA

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https://cryptoast.fr/coinbase-national-trust-company-licence-bancaire-federale-occ/

This Monday, November 9, 2026, Coinbase announces in a press release that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the American federal banking regulator, has validated the exchange's application to operate a fully authorized national fiat bank. The approval was communicated to it last Friday, according to the company's announcement, which specifies that the new entity will be named Coinbase National Trust Company (CNTC).

The move moves Coinbase's status from conditional approval, obtained in April 2026, to a full charter. In the meantime, the exchange had to finalize the implementation of its compliance systems, recruit the necessary staff and undergo several months of in-depth regulatory checks.

In detail, with its federal trust bank charter (national trust bank), the CNTC will be able to offer custody and payment services regulated at the federal level. On the other hand, Coinbase does not become a traditional commercial bank in its own right, because its new structure is not authorized to collect deposits or grant loans.

Secure asset custody is essential to further migrate the on-chain financial system. The Coinbase National Trust Company represents a new step in building this foundation.

Trusted custody is essential for bringing more of the financial system onchain.

Coinbase National Trust Company is another step for building that foundation. https://t.co/35K2yC3xpj

Coinbase joins a gradually widening circle. Two weeks ago, the OCC granted a full charter to Ripple, allowing the stablecoin issuer RLUSD to become its own fiat bank in the United States. For its part, Circle had obtained its definitive national banking license in July 2026.

Other players in the sector, such as Bridge (the Stripe subsidiary specializing in stablecoins) and Crypto.com, have also obtained conditional approvals from the OCC, and are awaiting the final sesame of federal fiduciary banking. World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto project linked to the Trump family, had also obtained conditional national trust bank status in August 2026.

This acceleration of banking licenses for crypto players is not a coincidence. It follows the adoption of the GENIUS Act, signed by President Trump in July 2025, which established a federal framework for issuers of stablecoins under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Machine-translated from French