OCC Approves Coinbase Trust Charter Conditionally

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted conditional approval on April 2 to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase for a national trust bank charter, marking the first such approval for a major U.S. crypto platform and sparking immediate opposition from community banking groups concerned about consumer risks and regulatory gaps.

Coinbase, through its proposed subsidiary Coinbase National Trust Company headquartered in New York, plans to use the charter to provide federally regulated custody and settlement services for digital assets, primarily targeting institutional clients. The company emphasized that the entity will not accept retail deposits, engage in lending or fractional reserve banking. "This charter is about bringing federal regulatory uniformity to the custody and market infrastructure business we have been building for years," said Greg Tusar, co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, in a company announcement. The approval follows Coinbase's application filed on October 3, 2024, and comes after six months of regulatory review, positioning the firm to replace a patchwork of state licenses with nationwide federal oversight.

The decision drew swift criticism from the...