Coinbase wins federal trust charter as PNC pilots USDC payments

Coinbase announced Monday, Nov. 9, that it secured final federal approval for Coinbase National Trust Company, with the charter taking effect Nov. 6. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had issued a preliminary, conditional decision on April 2 limiting the entity to trust-company operations and related activities, including fiduciary digital-asset custody. The approval does not make Coinbase a general commercial bank.

PNC, meanwhile, is running a limited pilot that lets eligible Corporate & Institutional Banking clients receive USDC on Ethereum through Coinbase's payment products. Each USDC payment is exchanged for an equal amount of U.S. dollars before being deposited into a designated PNC account. The trial expands an earlier partnership that gave eligible PNC Private Bank clients access to digital-asset trading.

Tom Lang, PNC's head of Treasury Management Product and Operations, framed the pilot as a customer play. The solution, he said, gives PNC an opportunity to support customers with innovative capabilities, backed by the banking experience, risk management and expertise clients expect from the bank.