Key Takeaways
- The OCC has granted Coinbase preliminary authorization to establish a federally chartered national trust company
- This charter focuses exclusively on custody services and market infrastructure, excluding retail deposit-taking
- Final approval requires Coinbase to satisfy multiple regulatory and operational prerequisites
- The federal designation is anticipated to unlock significant institutional client opportunities
- Coinbase’s current New York state trust charter and BitLicense continue operating without interruption
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary authorization to Coinbase (COIN) to operate Coinbase National Trust Company under a federal trust charter.
This OCC authorization is deliberately limited in scope, concentrating on digital asset custody and supporting market infrastructure. The company will not engage in retail deposit collection or traditional fractional reserve banking activities.
According to Greg Tusar, Co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, this approval delivers “federal regulatory uniformity to the custody and market infrastructure business we have been building for years.”
The application for this national trust charter was filed by Coinbase in October. The exchange currently operates under a limited-purpose trust charter issued by New York’s Department of Financial Services, which authorizes state-level digital asset custody operations through Coinbase Prime, its institutional division.
The federal charter represents a meaningful expansion. “We’re the custodian to over 80% of the world’s digital asset ETFs, but there are a number of other asset managers and hedge funds and others that would like to see the entity that they face have this kind of charter,” Tusar explained.
Essentially, federal recognition provides access to institutional clients that state-level authorization alone cannot accommodate.
According to its charter filing, Coinbase’s institutional division oversaw $245.7 billion in custodied assets as of June 2025—representing approximately 7% of the entire cryptocurrency market.
Outstanding Requirements Before Final Authorization
Receiving conditional approval does not equate to final clearance. Coinbase must complete several critical steps before the charter becomes operational, including convening an inaugural board meeting, ratifying corporate bylaws, implementing payment infrastructure, and successfully completing a pre-launch examination conducted by the OCC.
The company has committed to collaborating extensively with OCC regulators throughout this process.
Meanwhile, Coinbase’s existing regulatory framework under the NYDFS, including its BitLicense and state trust charter, remains active and unchanged. Coinbase, Inc. continues standard operations under New York state supervision.
Other Applicants Pursuing Federal Charters
Coinbase isn’t the only cryptocurrency firm seeking this designation. Last year, the OCC issued conditional approvals to multiple digital asset companies, including BitGo, Circle Internet Group, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple, and Paxos.
More recently, EDX Markets—backed by Morgan Stanley and Citadel Securities—along with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s prominent cryptocurrency initiative, have submitted applications for national trust charters.
The federal charter framework also creates opportunities for Coinbase to develop new payment solutions and complementary financial services targeting both institutional partners and individual users.
While Congress has made progress on crypto market structure legislation, federal supervision of digital asset custodians has remained disjointed. This OCC approval fills that regulatory void for institutional-grade custody without requiring comprehensive legislative reforms.
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