Coinbase Wins Full Federal Trust Charter From OCC

Coinbase has won a full national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, upgrading the conditional approval it received in April and putting its institutional custody business under direct federal supervision, the exchange said Monday.

The OCC approved the application for Coinbase National Trust Company last Friday, the company said in a blog post. OCC licensing records, as reported, show the chartering process was completed Nov. 6.

Coinbase applied in October 2025 and received preliminary approval on April 2. In the intervening months it had to finish its organizational and operational preparations before the OCC would let the trust bank open.

“This charter allows us to bring clear and consistent federal uniformity to our industry-leading custody capabilities,” Coinbase wrote, adding that it strengthens the regulatory framework under which it serves customers. The company said it has served as a custodian for more than 14 years.

A national trust bank can hold assets for clients as a fiduciary, and Coinbase’s focus is custody for institutional customers. It is not a commercial bank. It cannot take ordinary retail deposits or make loans, and the charter does not authorize it to issue stablecoins.

Staking, prime trading and financing will keep running through Coinbase affiliates, not the trust itself. Under the OCC’s April decision, the trust bank acts as an intermediary for those services and does not perform them directly.

The decision also sets conditions. The trust bank must hold at least $60 million in Tier 1 capital and enough liquid assets to cover 180 days of operating expenses during its first three years.

The license does not automatically connect Coinbase to Federal Reserve payment systems either. That requires a separate application under the Fed’s account access guidelines.

Coinbase already runs custody through Coinbase Custody Trust Company, a limited-purpose trust regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The company plans to move that business to the national entity over three years.

Coinbase is the latest crypto firm to complete a federal trust charter. Ripple received final approval on Oct. 26, and Circle won final OCC approval in July, a decision that put USDC reserves on a path toward federal supervision.