Circle has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate as Circle National Trust. The company said the new national trust bank will be supervised directly by the OCC and will begin by extending USDC infrastructure through federally regulated digital asset custody.
Final OCC authorization completes the charter process
According to Circle, the company filed for the national trust bank charter on June 30, 2025. The OCC granted conditional approval in December 2025 and has now issued final authorization. Once operational, Circle National Trust will fall under direct OCC supervision, placing it inside the federal framework used for national banks and national trust banks.
Circle said the charter adds a regulated custody layer to the company’s digital asset operations. At the same time, management of the USDC Reserve remains a future planned capability, rather than a function that is immediately going live with the bank’s opening.
Custody services start with Circle and affiliated entities
At launch, Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates. The approved business plan also leaves room for broader institutional custody services later, though the company did not attach a specific launch date or identify future customers in the materials cited.
The filing says the bank could eventually offer custody to a limited number of banks and other financial institutions. It also names regulated derivatives organizations as possible clients, subject to market demand. That points to a staged rollout rather than an immediate broad-market expansion.
Circle links the approval to broader regulatory positioning
Circle co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer Jeremy Allaire said federal oversight creates a framework centered on transparency, governance, and operational scale. He added that the approval gives financial institutions clearer footing when building on public blockchains.
The OCC decision adds to Circle’s regulatory footprint across multiple jurisdictions. The company said it became the first business to receive a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services in 2015. In 2024, it also became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. Circle also holds licenses in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Bermuda, meets Canadian Value-Referenced Crypto Asset requirements, and obtained a license from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority in 2025.