Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) said on July 10 that it received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, a step that brings the infrastructure behind USDC under direct federal banking supervision.
The new entity, chartered as First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. and operating under the name Circle National Trust, will provide custody services for digital assets. According to the business plan approved by the OCC, the bank is also designed to eventually manage the reserves backing USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
"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 Co-Founder, Chairman and 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."
The trust bank charter arrives as more traditional financial institutions integrate USDC. BNY, the world's largest custodian bank, recently added USDC to its institutional digital asset custody platform.
In his post, Allaire framed the approval as part of building "a new fundamental money layer for the internet" spanning use cases from AI agents transacting with one another to wholesale transfers between large financial institutions. "We are thrilled to be the first of a new cohort of firms establishing this kind of banking infrastructure," he wrote.
