Coinbase Moves Closer to Federal Crypto Custody With OCC Approval
According to a Bloomberg report, the OCC granted the preliminary green light to Coinbase National Trust Company, which Coinbase filed to establish on Oct. 3, 2025. The application was listed as pending on the OCC’s Digital Assets Licensing Applications page until Thursday’s announcement.
The charter is structured as a non-insured national trust company, meaning Coinbase will not take deposits or issue loans. The scope covers custody, staking, and related fiduciary and trust functions for institutional clients.
Coinbase said the charter is about bringing federal regulatory consistency to its custody and market infrastructure operations. The company currently holds more than $245 billion in assets under custody through its existing New York Department of Financial Services-chartered custody business.
Conditional approval is not final authorization. Before Coinbase can open and operate the national trust bank, it must satisfy a set of pre-opening requirements set by the OCC. Those conditions include anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) programs, capital and liquidity standards, governance structures, risk management protocols, and an operating agreement with the regulator.
Only after the OCC confirms those conditions are met will Coinbase be authorized to begin operations under the charter.
The approval positions Coinbase to offer federally supervised custody services to large institutional clients who require that level of regulatory oversight before placing assets with a crypto firm. Federal charter status also carries preemption benefits, allowing Coinbase to operate under a single national framework rather than navigating custody regulations state by state.
The OCC has been granting conditional national trust charters to crypto-native firms across 2025 and into 2026. Paxos received a conditional approval in December 2025. Circle, Ripple, Bitgo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Crypto.com are among others that have received similar preliminary clearances from the agency.
Each company must independently clear the pre-opening conditions before it can operate. Receipt of conditional approval does not guarantee full authorization.
For Coinbase, the charter extends its institutional custody business beyond the state-chartered structure it has operated under in New York. The company has been building toward federal oversight as institutional demand for regulated digital asset custody has grown.
Coinbase has stated it does not intend to pursue full commercial banking activities under the charter. The company expects the trust structure to serve as the regulatory foundation for its custody and infrastructure services at the federal level.
Bloomberg first reported the development on Thursday morning, citing a Coinbase statement that described the charter as a step toward uniformity in how its custody business is regulated at the federal level.
The OCC typically issues a formal news release or posts a corporate decision to its Corporate Applications Search system when conditional approvals are granted. Coinbase disclosed receipt of the approval directly before an OCC public posting was available.
FAQ 🧭
- What did Coinbase receive from the OCC? Coinbase received conditional approval for a national trust company charter, which would allow it to operate as a federally supervised crypto custodian.
- What does conditional approval mean? It is a preliminary authorization that requires Coinbase to meet specific pre-opening conditions before the OCC grants full operating status.
- Will Coinbase become a bank? No, the charter is limited to custody and trust functions and does not allow Coinbase to take deposits or make loans.
- When did Coinbase file its OCC application? Coinbase filed the application for Coinbase National Trust Company on Oct. 3, 2025.
