Circle Becomes “First Stablecoin Issuer” to Win US National Trust Bank Approval

Circle has received
final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to
establish a national trust bank, allowing the USDC issuer to expand its
regulated digital asset custody operations in the United States.

The company announced today
(Friday) that the new institution will operate as Circle National Trust,
formally established as First National Digital Currency Bank. The approval
follows Circle’s
application for a national trust charter in June 2025.

The decision also
marks the first approval among a recent wave of applications from major
stablecoin issuers seeking federal trust bank charters. Ripple applied to
establish Ripple National Trust Bank in July last year as part of its plans to
support its RLUSD stablecoin and custody services.

Paxos
followed with its own application in August, seeking to convert its
existing New York trust charter into a national OCC charter. Circle is the
first of the three companies to receive final approval from the regulator.

Trust Bank Begins with Affiliate Custody
Services

Commenting on the
approval, Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire described the decision as
“a defining step” in bringing blockchain technology and digital
assets “into the core of the US financial system.”

According to the
approved business plan, Circle National Trust will initially provide fiduciary
digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliated companies. The
bank could later expand those services to a limited group of institutional
clients, including banks and other financial institutions, if demand develops.

Circle has received final OCC approval to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., a national trust bank operating as Circle National Trust.A major U.S. regulatory milestone that strengthens USDC infrastructure through federally regulated custody, with reserve… pic.twitter.com/GtThvFV5aW

— Circle (@circle) July 10, 2026

Circle Eyes Federal Oversight for
Reserves

The trust bank
structure could also allow Circle to manage the reserves backing its USDC
stablecoin under federal oversight in the future.

The approval further
expands Circle’s regulatory footprint. The company said it was the first
business to receive a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial
Services in 2015 and the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the
European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework in 2024.

Circle has also
secured regulatory approvals in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bermuda, Canada
and Abu Dhabi.

This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.



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