Coinbase has received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Coinbase National Trust Company as a national trust bank. The charter became effective on November 6, 2026, completing a process that began with an application in October 2025 and conditional approval in April 2026. The decision places the company’s institutional digital asset custody business under direct federal oversight.

The national trust structure allows Coinbase to provide fiduciary custody services for institutional clients on a nationwide basis. It builds on the firm’s existing New York limited-purpose trust charter, obtained in 2018, and its longer history of regulated custody operations. Coinbase plans to migrate its current custody business to the federal entity over a three-year period.

Scope of the National Trust Charter

Coinbase National Trust Company is authorized to hold and transfer digital assets and related fiat in fiduciary custody accounts, primarily for institutional customers. The trust bank may facilitate client access to staking, prime trading, and financing services, but those activities will be performed by Coinbase affiliates rather than the bank itself. The bank functions as an intermediary in those arrangements.

The charter does not authorize Coinbase to operate as a commercial bank. It cannot accept ordinary retail deposits, engage in traditional lending, or conduct fractional-reserve banking. The approval also does not grant automatic access to Federal Reserve payment systems, which requires a separate application process.

Capital and liquidity conditions apply. The trust bank must maintain at least $60 million in Tier 1 capital and hold liquid assets sufficient to cover 180 days of operating expenses during its first three years of operations.

Part of a Broader Wave of Crypto Trust Charters

Coinbase joins other digital asset companies that have secured full national trust bank charters. Circle received final OCC approval in July 2026 for operations linked to its USDC stablecoin reserves. Ripple obtained final approval on October 26, 2026, for a trust bank that can manage segregated reserves for its RLUSD stablecoin and provide related fiduciary services.

Additional firms remain in the pipeline. Applications or conditional approvals involve entities such as Block, Kraken’s parent company Payward, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, Crypto.com, and a trust company associated with World Liberty Financial. The GENIUS Act, enacted in 2025, established a federal framework for payment stablecoins and contributed to increased interest in national trust charters among crypto firms.

Coinbase has stated that its focus remains on regulated custody and related financial infrastructure rather than stablecoin issuance under the new charter. The company previously operated custody services for institutional investors and certain spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Opposition from Traditional Banking Groups

The expansion of national trust charters to crypto companies has drawn legal challenges. The Independent Community Bankers of America filed a lawsuit against the OCC in early October 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The group contends that the regulator exceeded its statutory authority by granting national trust charters covering activities beyond traditional fiduciary roles and without imposing the full set of requirements that apply to insured commercial banks, including certain capital, liquidity, and Community Reinvestment Act obligations.

Banking associations have argued that the charters provide crypto firms with federal banking status while bypassing safeguards available to traditional deposit-taking institutions. Senator Elizabeth Warren has also criticized the OCC’s approach as inconsistent with federal law. The OCC has maintained that national trust banks may engage in activities connected to conventional trust company functions under its rules and guidance.

Coinbase has reiterated that it has no intention of becoming a full-service commercial bank or accepting retail deposits. The company positions the charter as a means of delivering consistent federal supervision for its existing institutional custody offerings.

Operational Transition and Institutional Focus

Coinbase already holds substantial institutional assets under custody through its New York-regulated entity. The federal charter is expected to provide greater uniformity for clients that prefer or require nationally supervised fiduciaries. The three-year transition period is designed to allow an orderly transfer of operations while the New York charter and related state licenses remain in place.

The approval arrives as U.S. regulators continue refining the treatment of digital assets within the banking system. For Coinbase, the national trust company represents an expansion of federally supervised custody capacity rather than a shift into conventional deposit-taking or lending activities.