OCC grants Coinbase final approval for national trust bank

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Nov. 9 granted Coinbase final approval for Coinbase National Trust, its national trust bank. The company received conditional approval in April 2026; the pre-opening conditions are now met, according to CoinDesk and American Banker.

Details

It is a non-insured trust company: it does not take deposits or make loans. Coinbase plans to start with digital asset custody, then move into stablecoin issuance and servicing, white-label arrangements for other companies, and payments. Until now the business ran on state licenses, including New York's BitLicense; the OCC becomes its primary regulator.

American Banker quotes Rick Schonberg, Coinbase's head of prime trading and custody, saying the approval lets the company expand custody within a consistent federal framework. Coinbase National Trust's application file is on the OCC site, but we could not find the decision text itself, so details rest on the two outlets.

Ripple won final approval in late October. American Banker says the OCC has approved or conditionally approved nearly two dozen trust charters under the second Trump administration. The banking lobby is fighting this in court: the ICBA lawsuit over whether the OCC can grant such charters could run for years.

What it means for the market

The largest US exchange gains a federal custodian status, which matters for institutions and stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. We see no direct price effect on bitcoin; live prices and the daily brief are on the home page.