Coinbase said on Monday, November 9, 2026, that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had granted final approval to charter Coinbase National Trust Company. According to the company, the approval was issued the preceding Friday, November 6.
The charter will allow Coinbase to expand its institutional digital-asset custody business under a federal regulatory framework, the company said. It described the change as bringing “clear and consistent federal uniformity” to its custody operations.
Coinbase’s charter timeline
- 2018: Coinbase Custody Trust Company received a limited-purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, establishing its regulated custody business.
- 2025: Coinbase first applied for the national trust charter.
- April 2026: The OCC granted conditional approval. At the time, Coinbase said it was not becoming a commercial bank and would not accept retail deposits or engage in fractional-reserve banking.
- November 6, 2026: The OCC granted final approval, according to Coinbase.
- November 9, 2026: Coinbase announced the approval. CEO Brian Armstrong described trusted custody as essential to bringing more of the financial system onchain and called the trust company another step toward that foundation.
Status at publication: final approval reported, following conditional approval seven months earlier. Coinbase said the national trust company builds on its existing custody business while bringing its trust activities into a consistent federal framework.
Other crypto charter milestones
The report placed Coinbase alongside two other firms with final approvals:
- Circle — July 2026: Final approval for a trust bank to manage reserves backing its USDC stablecoin.
- Ripple — October 2026: Final approval for a trust bank supporting its RLUSD stablecoin.
Other applications had not reached final approval at the time of the report. Kraken parent Payward filed in May 2026, while Jack Dorsey’s Block applied in September for a charter to custody Bitcoin. A trust company linked to Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial received conditional approval in August for a charter tied to its USD1 stablecoin, Reuters reported.
Legal opposition
The approvals faced challenges. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, argued that the OCC’s crypto charter approvals, including Coinbase’s, were illegal. The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC to stop crypto firms from entering banking through what the group described as a “side door.”
Original report: Decrypt, published November 9, 2026, at 19:50:36 UTC+08:00. This article preserves the status and timing described in that report.