Coinbase Wins Full OCC National Trust Bank Charter

Coinbase announced on Monday, November 9, 2026 that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had elevated Coinbase National Trust to full status as a national trust bank. Coinbase will now operate a fully chartered trust bank.

According to OCC licensing records, Coinbase National Trust Company completed its chartering process on November 6, 2026. Coinbase announced the completed approval on November 9, 2026. The company had received preliminary, conditional approval on April 2, 2026, after submitting its application in October 2025, six months earlier.

What the charter allows, and what it does not

Under the charter, Coinbase National Trust Company can provide fiduciary digital asset custody services, primarily to institutional customers, holding and transferring assets in custody accounts.

The charter does not make Coinbase a full-service bank. It cannot take ordinary retail deposits or extend loans. It does not authorize Coinbase National Trust to issue stablecoins, and the charter application did not propose stablecoin issuance. The federal charter also does not automatically give Coinbase direct access to Federal Reserve payment systems. That requires a separate Federal Reserve process.

"We've spent years asking for clear rules and rigorous oversight, and today's approval of our national trust charter puts more of our business behind that commitment," said Ryan VanGrack, Coinbase Vice Chairman, in the announcement reported by CoinDesk. "The OCC's approval is another major step in integrating digital assets into the core infrastructure of the American financial system."

Custody moves over three years, under capital conditions

Coinbase currently runs custody through Coinbase Custody Trust Company, a limited-purpose trust company regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It plans to transfer that custody business to the national trust entity over three years.

CoinCentral, reporting the charter application figures, put Coinbase institutional assets under custody at $245.7 billion as of June 30, 2025.

The OCC conditions require the trust bank to maintain at least $60 million in Tier 1 capital during its first three years. It must also hold liquid assets sufficient to cover 180 days of operating expenses in that period.

A wider race for federal trust charters, and a court challenge

Coinbase is not alone. Ripple received final OCC approval for its own national trust bank on October 26, 2026. The OCC has also advanced trust charter applications from Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.

The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, established a federal framework for payment stablecoins and cleared a path for federal trusts. Crypto firms have pursued OCC trust charters in growing numbers since then.

Community bankers are challenging that path in court. The Independent Community Bankers of America filed a lawsuit on October 2, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the OCC authority to grant these trust charters. ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said: "Digital assets held at a crypto firm operating under a national trust charter do not carry those important safeguards."

For Coinbase, the practical change is where its custody business sits. The work moves from a New York state trust to a federal trust bank, under OCC conditions on capital and liquidity, over a three year migration.