Circle, the issuer of $USDC, one of the largest stablecoins in the cryptocurrency market, has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national custodial bank.
Accordingly, Circle announced that it has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a federal deposit bank called Circle National Trust.
This development follows the conditional approval the company received approximately seven months ago. It is seen as a significant step strengthening Circle’s position in the US financial system.
Circle announced that the bank’s name is “First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A.- Circle National Trust Bank” and that it will operate under the name “Circle National Trust”.
Circle states that this approval brings $USDC custody operations under federal regulation. The national custodian bank to be established under this approval will initially only provide custody services to Circle’s affiliates. This will allow Circle to manage the security and operational processes of its digital assets more effectively within its own organization.
Circle also added that the bank aims to take over the management of US dollar reserves backing the $USDC stablecoin in the future.
Circle Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said, “The OCC’s approval to establish Circle National Trust represents a decisive step toward bringing blockchain technology and digital assets to the heart of the U.S. financial system. Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scalability for Circle’s infrastructure and paves the way for a new phase of adoption where leading financial institutions can operate on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”
As you may recall, Circle submitted its application to the OCC last June and received conditional approval in December.
Ripple has received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for Ripple National Trust Bank, but has not yet received final approval.
*This is not investment advice.