Circle Wins Final OCC Approval to Establish a US National Trust Bank

Highlights:

• Circle has secured final OCC approval to launch a national trust bank focused on digital asset custody.
• The new bank will support USDC custody first, with reserve management planned for a later stage.
• Circle may eventually serve selected institutional clients, although it has not yet announced an opening date.

Circle has received final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank focused on digital asset custody. The company announced the decision on July 10, and said the new institution will operate as Circle National Trust.

The bank’s legal name will be First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. It will operate under direct OCC supervision, placing part of Circle’s USDC infrastructure within a federal banking framework. Once the bank opens, it will provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliated companies.

Circle Wins Approval to Establish U.S. National Trust Bank, Shares Jump Over 7.7% Premarket

Circle shares rose more than 7.7% in pre-market trading after the company said it received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish First… pic.twitter.com/vI6X8zLjoZ

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 10, 2026

Circle Plans to Strengthen USDC Infrastructure Under Federal Oversight

Circle said the charter will strengthen the infrastructure behind USDC through federally regulated custody. The company also plans to add USDC reserve management as a future capability, although that service will not begin immediately.

Moving reserve management under the national trust bank could place those operations under direct federal oversight. Circle believes the structure would improve transparency, safety and trust around USDC as its use grows across payments, settlement and capital markets.

The approved business plan also leaves room for the bank to offer custody services directly to a limited number of institutional clients in the future. Circle said potential customers could include banks, other financial institutions and regulated derivatives organizations. However, any expansion will depend on market demand.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire described the approval as an important step in bringing blockchain-based financial services closer to the core US financial system. He said, “Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”

Circle Builds on Years of Global Regulatory Expansion

Circle submitted its national trust bank application to the OCC on June 30 last year. The regulator granted conditional approval last December before issuing the final approval announced on July 10.

The company has spent years building its regulatory presence in several markets. Circle received a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services in 2015. It also became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets rules, according to the company.

Circle also holds regulatory licenses or approvals in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bermuda and Abu Dhabi. In addition, the company said it has met Canada’s requirements for value-referenced crypto assets.

The license puts yet another regulated layer on Circle’s activities in the United States, as the firm attempts to increase USDC’s importance in global payments and finance. However, there is no information provided by Circle about the start date for their trust bank and the launch of their services.