Coinbase Secures Effective Federal Trust Charter for Crypto Custody
Key Facts
Coinbase announced on November 9 that its subsidiary, Coinbase National Trust Company, had received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust company, expanding digital asset custody under federal oversight. The OCC records that the charter became effective on November 6, after approving it on April 2. The decision allows the company to hold cryptocurrencies in a fiduciary capacity, subjecting those services to fiduciary duties and standards of conduct. Coinbase linked the approval to expanding its custody business within a federal regulatory framework. Company Vice President Ryan Van Graak said the approval was "another major step toward integrating digital assets into the core infrastructure of the U.S. financial system."
The charter’s scope remains limited to trust company business and related activities under the company’s submitted business plan, according to the OCC’s conditions. The license does not give Coinbase the powers of a full-service commercial bank, as it does not authorize the company to accept deposits or make loans in that capacity. CoinDesk described the entity as not operating as a full-service bank that accepts deposits and extends loans to customers. When Coinbase announced conditional approval in April, it said the company was not becoming a commercial bank and would not accept retail deposits. This restriction draws clear boundaries around what the charter permits: a federal framework for fiduciary custody, not a general license to provide traditional banking services.
The approval includes a capital condition requiring the company to maintain at least $60 million in Tier 1 capital. The condition is among the controls the OCC attached to the charter, alongside limiting operations to activities specified in the business plan. Coinbase said the federal framework allows it to expand its custody business, while describing its services as institutional and compliant with controls. It said it has protected digital assets for more than 14 years and tied the charter to custody services it has built over more than a decade. This track record places the new approval within an expansion of existing services, with the entity subject to federal operating conditions and oversight.
Coinbase said the path also builds on prior regulatory experience in New York state. The company said its engagement with the New York State Department of Financial Services began in 2017 with a BitLicense, and that Coinbase Custody Trust Company received approval for a limited-purpose trust charter in 2018. The national charter adds a federal layer to that path, while the company’s powers remain governed by the charter type and business plan. Across the sector, a U.S. government document showed that as of April 15, the OCC had 10 pending applications for new national charters or conversion to national banks from entities planning to offer digital asset products or services. This points to growing interest in using national charters for digital asset activities, without changing the restrictions set out in Coinbase’s license.
Alongside its charter announcement on November 9, Coinbase and PNC announced a pilot program for USDC payments for PNC’s corporate and institutional banking clients through Coinbase interfaces. According to Coinbase’s description, incoming payments in USDC are automatically converted to U.S. dollars at a 1-to-1 ratio and then deposited into a designated account at PNC. The program is a separate track for the banking partnership and corporate payments, while the national charter concerns the trust company’s custody activities under the OCC’s conditions. Coinbase shares closed at $132.13 in the November 10 session, according to EL7 data. No verified data was available on the stock’s high or low in that session.