Overview
- Coinbase, which announced the step Thursday, received the OCC’s conditional nod to form Coinbase National Trust Company for federally supervised crypto custody and market infrastructure.
- The charter does not make Coinbase a commercial bank, so it cannot take retail deposits, make loans, or offer FDIC insurance, and it is designed for holding assets in safekeeping rather than traditional banking.
- Full activation depends on meeting OCC conditions that include holding an initial board meeting, adopting bylaws, building payment rails, and passing a pre‑opening exam, and Coinbase will keep operating under its NYDFS trust charter and BitLicense in the meantime.
- Banking trade groups pushed back, with the Independent Community Bankers of America calling the move a grave mistake and the Bank Policy Institute and others arguing the OCC is stretching its authority and could face legal scrutiny.
- The move places Coinbase alongside Ripple, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity in pursuing national trust charters, a path strengthened by an April 1 rule that lets trust banks provide non‑fiduciary digital‑asset custody and that could help large institutions get clearer custodial assurance and enable future payment products under federal oversight.