OCC Grants Circle National Trust Bank Charter for Digital Assets

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted Circle Internet Group final regulatory approval to establish a national trust bank operating as Circle National Trust. The firm will create a holding company called First National Digital Currency Bank to manage the entity. This charter allows the USDC stablecoin issuer to provide fiduciary digital asset custody and settlement services for itself, its affiliates, and eventually institutional clients such as banks and regulated derivatives organizations.

The move transitions Circle from a fragmented state-by-state regulatory framework to unified federal supervision, a requirement for large issuers under the federal stablecoin framework known as the Genius Act. Circle intends to bring the management of USDC reserves under this federal oversight shortly after the approval. Similar conditional approvals were granted in December to other firms, including Ripple, Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets.

While the regulatory milestone was viewed positively, the company continues to face challenges including decelerating growth in USDC circulation and high distribution costs, while facing competition from traditional financial firms and the Open USD initiative.