Circle Internet Group today secured final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, a milestone that sent the stablecoin issuer’s stock higher and deepened its ties to the federal banking system.
The regulator approved Circle to charter First National Digital Currency Bank, NA, which will operate under the name Circle National Trust.
The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL, said the charter places the new entity under direct federal supervision by the OCC, the primary supervisor of national banks and national trust banks.
Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary custody services for digital assets owned by Circle and its affiliates. Under the business plan approved by the OCC, the bank could expand custody services to a limited number of institutional clients, focusing on banks and regulated derivatives organizations.
The charter opens a path for the bank to manage the reserve-backed USDC, the largest regulated stablecoin, which would bring the multibillion-dollar pool under federal oversight.
National trust banks differ from traditional lenders. They protect clients’ assets and provide fiduciary services, and they do not take deposits or issue loans. The structure adapts its digital asset infrastructure with a long-standing model to hold client assets under strict fiduciary standards.
“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a critical step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Circle. He said federal oversight of the trust bank “sets a new standard for transparency, governance and scale” and unlocks an adoption phase where large financial institutions can build on public blockchains with confidence.
Investors welcomed the decision. CRCL shares rose as much as 14% on the day of the announcement, recovering from a three-month low. Other crypto-linked names, including Coinbase and Strategy, posted gains of nearly 5% this morning as bitcoin jumped.
The CRCL shares have since settled for a 5% gain.
Circle’s federal framework
The approval caps a process that began when Circle filed its application on June 30, 2025. The OCC granted conditional approval in December 2025, along with peers such as Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.
The final decision comes as the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law passed in July 2025, moves toward full implementation in early 2027.
This statute requires OCC oversight of major stablecoin issuers, and the trust charter positions Circle to fulfill the mandate while bringing USDC reserves into a federal framework.
Circle has built a track record of regulatory engagement across markets. It received a BitLicense from New York in 2015, became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework by 2024, and holds licenses in the UK, Singapore, Bermuda and Abu Dhabi.
The charter strengthens USDC’s role as regulated digital-dollar infrastructure for payments, settlement and capital markets, Circle said.