Circle secured the last piece of federal approval it needs to establish its own bank.

Circle Internet Group won approval on Friday from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate as Circle National Trust.

Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary custody of digital assets for Circle and its affiliates. Under the business plan the OCC approved, the bank could later extend that service to a limited group of institutional clients, “focusing on banks and other financial institutions, such as regulated derivatives organizations.” Circle listed reserve management as a future capability.

“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement. “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.”

The charter caps a busy regulatory run for the company, which raised $1.1 billion in its 2025 stock-market debut and was an early winner from the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law that took effect in July 2025. Circle’s filing helped open a wave of similar applications from crypto firms, though Anchorage Digital Bank had held the only such crypto charter since 2021.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has argued the OCC should not grant the charters to firms she says do not qualify under the National Bank Act.

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.

Circle Wins Final Federal Approval for Its National Trust Bank, Starting With Custody

Stay Ahead in Crypto