Coinbase gets its federal trust charter
OCC grants Coinbase a full national trust charter, but the license bars deposits, loans and stablecoin issuance.
Coinbase closed its national trust bank charter with the OCC on November 6, upgrading the conditional approval it got in April. The license lets Coinbase National Trust Company hold institutional assets under federal supervision. It does not let the entity take deposits, make loans, or issue stablecoins.
What the charter actually covers
The approval formalizes custody, not banking. Coinbase has run custody for 14 years through a New York-chartered trust; this charter moves that function under the OCC instead.
- Trust bank must hold at least $60 million in Tier 1 capital, per Bitcoin Magazine.
- Must maintain liquid assets covering 180 days of operating expenses for three years.
- Coinbase applied in October 2025; preliminary approval landed April 2, final approval November 6.
- Ripple got its final charter October 26; Circle got final OCC approval in July.
- No Fed payment system access comes with this charter; that needs a separate application.
Staking, prime trading, and financing stay with Coinbase affiliates. The trust itself just holds.
Why the charter is a wall, not a bridge
The default read calls this a legitimacy win, Coinbase joining the federally regulated banking club. The conditions attached say something narrower: this charter builds a wall around custody, not a bridge to new business lines.
Coinbase gets federal oversight on assets it already holds. It does not get deposit-taking, lending, or the ability to issue a stablecoin under the trust's name. Those are the functions that would actually expand its balance sheet.
The three-year migration window for moving existing custody clients off the NYDFS structure matters more than the charter announcement itself. That's where operational risk and client friction show up, not in a press release.
The stablecoin angle explains the resistance. Community bankers fought this application specifically because Coinbase wants to reward customers for holding stablecoins, which pulls deposits out of traditional banks. The charter does not grant that power. It just moves the custody fight onto federal turf, where Coinbase has spent years lobbying for exactly this kind of rulebook.
Who else is in the queue
Coinbase isn't alone. Ripple, Circle, Crypto.com, and Paxos all hold or held conditional OCC approval before Friday's decision. Block applied for its own charter in September.
The OCC under Comptroller Jonathan Gould has actively courted crypto firms this year, calling the agency "open for business" in August. That's a policy stance, not a one-off approval.
Timing adds a wrinkle. The charter landed days after Democrats won both chambers of Congress. An executive-branch regulator's charter sits outside any legislative fight, for now.
What determines if this charter matters
The charter is a procedural win until Coinbase actually moves clients and tests the limits of what it can't do.
- Watch whether Coinbase migrates its NYDFS custody clients to the national trust on the stated three-year schedule.
- Watch whether Coinbase files a separate application for Fed payment system access, which would signal ambition beyond custody.
- Watch whether the Independent Community Bankers of America or American Bankers Association escalate objections to Congress or courts.