Coinbase received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter Coinbase National Trust Company, the exchange said on November 9, 2026. According to Coinbase, the OCC approved its application the previous Friday, November 6.
The company said the charter would allow it to expand its institutional digital-asset custody business under a federal regulatory framework, bringing “clear and consistent federal uniformity” to its custody operations.
“Trusted custody is essential for bringing more of the financial system onchain,” CEO Brian Armstrong wrote on November 9, describing the trust company as another step toward that foundation.
A federal framework for custody
Coinbase has offered regulated custody since 2018, when Coinbase Custody Trust Company received a limited-purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services. The company said its new national trust company builds on that business while placing its trust activities within a consistent federal framework.
Final approval followed conditional OCC approval in April 2026, seven months earlier. At that time, Coinbase said it was not becoming a commercial bank and would neither accept retail deposits nor engage in fractional-reserve banking. It first applied for the charter in 2025.
Other crypto charters face scrutiny
Coinbase joins Circle and Ripple in receiving final approval for national trust charters. Circle secured approval in July 2026 for a trust bank to manage reserves backing USDC. Ripple received approval in October for a trust bank supporting its RLUSD stablecoin.
Other applications had not yet received final approval at the time of the report:
- Jack Dorsey’s Block applied in September for a charter to custody Bitcoin.
- Kraken parent Payward filed an application in May.
- A trust company linked to Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial received conditional approval in August for a charter tied to its USD1 stablecoin, Reuters reported.
The approvals have also faced opposition. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has argued that the OCC’s crypto charter approvals, including Coinbase’s, are illegal. The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC to stop crypto firms from entering banking through what the group describes as a “side door.”
Source: Decrypt. Originally published November 9, 2026, at 19:50:36 UTC+8.