Coinbase received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter Coinbase National Trust Company, the exchange said on Monday, November 9, 2026. According to Coinbase, the OCC approved its application the preceding Friday.
The company said the charter would allow it to expand its custody business—holding digital assets on behalf of institutional clients—under a federal regulatory framework. The approval concerns custody and trust activities, rather than a move into conventional retail banking.
The custody-to-onchain narrative
Coinbase described custody as foundational to its business and said the charter would bring “clear and consistent federal uniformity” to its custody operations. It also described itself as the leading crypto custodian globally, a characterization made by the company.
“Trusted custody is essential for bringing more of the financial system onchain,” CEO Brian Armstrong wrote on November 9, calling the trust company another step toward that foundation.
That is the proposed use case: federally regulated custody as infrastructure for bringing financial activity onto blockchains. The reported approval establishes a regulatory milestone; the source does not provide figures showing additional client adoption or assets brought onchain as a result.
What changes—and what does not
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 the national trust company builds on that arrangement 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, would not accept retail deposits and would not engage in fractional reserve banking. It first applied for the charter in 2025.
Similar charters, different uses
Other crypto firms have pursued national trust charters, but their proposed activities are not identical:
- Circle received final approval in July 2026 for a trust bank to manage reserves backing its USDC stablecoin.
- Ripple received final approval in October 2026 for a trust bank behind its RLUSD stablecoin.
- Block, led by Jack Dorsey, applied in September 2026 for a charter to custody Bitcoin and was still awaiting final approval at the time of the report.
- Payward, Kraken’s parent company, filed an application in May 2026 and was also awaiting final approval.
- A trust company linked to Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial received conditional approval in August 2026 for a charter tied to its USD1 stablecoin, Reuters reported. Final approval remained pending.
These cases share a regulatory route, but distinguish institutional asset custody from stablecoin-related reserve and trust functions.
Opposition to the charter route
The approvals have faced legal and political challenges. 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.”
The broader question is therefore not only whether federal trust charters can support crypto infrastructure, but whether this regulatory route can withstand those challenges.
Original report: Decrypt, published November 9, 2026, at 19:50:36 UTC+8.
