Coinbase Receives Conditional OCC Approval for National Trust Bank Charter

On April 2, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted Coinbase conditional approval for a national trust bank charter. The new entity, Coinbase National Trust Company, will be headquartered in New York and operate as a federally regulated digital asset custodian. This conditional approval is a formal first step; Coinbase must now build compliance systems, hire key staff, and pass regulatory reviews demonstrating strong risk management and anti-money-laundering controls before securing full approval, a process that typically takes months.

The charter is specifically for a non-insured national trust company focused on digital asset custody and does not grant deposit-taking or lending powers. The federal charter allows Coinbase to operate nationwide under a single regulatory framework, replacing a patchwork of state licenses. The approval comes amid a broader surge in fintech charter activity, with eleven companies filing for or receiving conditional OCC approvals within an 83-day window ending in early March 2026, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets.

The charter does not resolve pending stablecoin yield debates governed by separate regulatory frameworks.