Coinbase Secures Final OCC Charter for National Trust Company

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has made it official. Its licensing register lists Coinbase National Trust Company's charter as effective Nov. 6, following an approval entry dated April 2. Coinbase announced the final clearance on Nov. 9, saying the regulator signed off on its application the previous Friday.

The win moves Coinbase beyond the conditional approval it received in April. Custody — the business of safeguarding customers' digital assets — can now expand under a federal framework instead of sitting at the conditional stage. 'This charter allows us to bring clear and consistent federal uniformity to our industry-leading custody capabilities,' Coinbase wrote in its November announcement.

Don't expect a bank branch to open next door. Coinbase said back in April that it would not take retail deposits or run a fractional-reserve model, in which banks lend out part of what customers park with them. The change is about the regulatory scaffolding around custody, not a pivot into commercial banking.

Coinbase was already regulated on the custody front. Its New York limited-purpose trust charter dates to 2018, according to the company, and the new national charter pulls those trust activities under one federal framework. Coinbase Inc. stays under New York Department of Financial Services oversight, with its BitLicense and state trust charter remaining in place.

The April filing framed the charter as a foundation for new products, 'including payments and related services.' The November announcement kept its focus on custody under federal oversight and did not describe a new payments product.