Circle Wins Final Approval for National Trust Bank Charter

Circle, the issuer of the popular USDC stablecoin, has received final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank called First National Digital Currency Bank (FNDCB), which will operate under the name Circle National Trust.

The OCC approval comes after Circle applied for the charter in June 2025, allowing it to expand its digital asset custody infrastructure and establish a federally regulated trust institution. The new bank's initial focus will be on providing fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliated companies, with potential expansion to institutional customers later.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the approval marks 'a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the US financial system.'

Circle has secured regulatory approvals across major markets, including BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services in 2015, compliance with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework in 2024, and other licenses in the UK, Singapore, Bermuda, Canada, and Abu Dhabi.

USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization at $73.3 billion, according to CoinGecko.