Coinbase Wins Full OCC National Trust Charter, Moving Its $245.7 Billion Custody Business Under Federal Oversight

Published November 9, 2026, 3:00 PM PKT. Based on Coinbase's announcement as reported by CoinDesk (primary source), American Banker, The Cryptonomist, and SpendNode's review of OCC application records.

Coinbase said on Monday, November 9, 2026, that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted Coinbase National Trust Company a full national trust charter, moving the largest American crypto exchange's custody business under federal banking oversight. The approval elevates the conditional status the OCC granted on April 2, 2026, and makes Coinbase the latest crypto-native firm to win full standing as a national trust bank.

The OCC's own application record lists the charter as effective November 6, 2026, three days before Coinbase announced it, according to SpendNode's review of the regulator's records. The record identifies the entity under control number 2025-Charter-343449 and proposed charter number 25390, and shows the application was received on October 3, 2025, approved on April 2, 2026, and marked consummated and effective on November 6.

From conditional approval to a full charter

Coinbase filed its application on October 3, 2025, and the OCC granted conditional approval on April 2, 2026, which let the new entity offer federally regulated custody and payment services while the company finished building out its systems. Coinbase said it spent the months since then building compliance systems, hiring staff and undergoing regulatory review before the agency signed off on the full charter, according to CoinDesk.

Coinbase Vice Chairman Ryan VanGrack said in a statement carried by CoinDesk, "We have spent years asking for clear rules and rigorous oversight, and today's approval of our national trust charter puts more of our business behind that commitment. The OCC's approval is another major step in integrating digital assets into the core infrastructure of the American financial system."

Rick Schonberg, head of prime trading and custody at Coinbase, told American Banker the approval lets the company operate its crypto business across a predictable federal framework, adding that it allows Coinbase to expand its custody capabilities within a consistent federal regulatory framework.

What the charter covers, and what it does not

The charter covers federally regulated custody and payment services, with fiduciary custody of digital assets as the core business. It does not turn Coinbase into a deposit-taking, full-service bank. Retail deposits, lending and fractional reserve banking all fall outside its scope, according to The Cryptonomist.

The entity, Coinbase National Trust Company, was established from scratch rather than acquired, and Coinbase keeps its existing authorizations alongside the new federal one. Its New York state trust charter and its BitLicense remain in place, and its application sets out a three-year transition for moving the custody business into the federal entity, rather than replacing the state framework overnight.

Coinbase had operated under state crypto licenses for nearly a decade, including the New York BitLicense and the state's limited-purpose trust charter, according to American Banker. The federal charter gives it a single national framework instead of a patchwork of state permissions for the custody business.

A $245.7 billion custody book moves under federal oversight

The charter brings federal oversight to a custody operation that held $245.7 billion in institutional assets as of mid-2025, according to The Cryptonomist. That figure predates the current market selloff, and the custody book is the business the charter actually covers, so the approval matters most to the institutions whose assets Coinbase holds, not to retail traders on the exchange.

The arrival of crypto-native firms inside the U.S. banking system follows years in which federal banking, securities and derivatives regulators resisted letting them in and often treated the businesses with regulatory distrust, according to CoinDesk. The OCC has embraced crypto firms and stablecoins under the administration of President Donald Trump, and has approved or conditionally approved nearly two dozen national trust bank charters during the second Trump administration, including more than a dozen for crypto firms, according to American Banker.

Stablecoins are the next step

Coinbase says its immediate focus after the final approval is custody, and then stablecoin issuance, servicing, white-label stablecoin arrangements for other companies, and payments, according to American Banker. The path runs through the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, signed in July 2025, which set up a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins such as USD Coin ($USDC) and lets federal trust banks issue compliant stablecoins.

The OCC has already written the first GENIUS Act stablecoin rule, finalizing it in October 2026 with a January 18, 2027 start date, as MABOnChain reported at the time. Coinbase's charter positions it to operate inside that framework rather than watching from the state-licensed sidelines.

Ripple got there first, and the bankers are suing

Coinbase is not the first crypto firm through the door. Ripple won its own full OCC trust charter on October 26, 2026, after conditional approval on December 12, 2025, as MABOnChain reported. The OCC also granted conditional trust status to World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto venture, according to CoinDesk.

The charter wave is being challenged. The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC, claiming the regulator exceeded its authority in granting trust charters to crypto firms, according to CoinDesk. That lawsuit does not suspend any charter, but it means the legal basis for the approvals is now being tested in court while firms like Coinbase and Ripple build on them.

Sources

• CoinDesk, Coinbase gets full U.S. trust charter from federal banking regulator, November 9, 2026 (primary source: company announcement; conditional approval in April 2026; months of compliance work, hiring and review before full approval; VanGrack statement; Ripple full charter in October 2026; ICBA lawsuit against the OCC; conditional trust status for World Liberty Financial)
• American Banker, Coinbase gets final OCC charter approval, November 9, 2026 (secondary reporting: OCC approval on Friday, announced Monday; Schonberg statements on a predictable federal framework and expanded custody capabilities; nearly two dozen national trust charters approved or conditionally approved under the second Trump administration, more than a dozen for crypto firms; custody first, then stablecoin issuance, servicing, white-label arrangements and payments; state licenses held for nearly a decade)
• The Cryptonomist, Coinbase National Trust Charter Advances Crypto Custody, November 9, 2026 (secondary reporting: charter covers custody and payments, not retail deposits or lending; entity established from scratch; application October 3, 2025, conditional approval April 2, 2026; three-year transition; New York trust charter and BitLicense retained; $245.7 billion in institutional custody assets as of mid-2025; Ripple full charter October 26, 2026; ICBA lawsuit)
• SpendNode, Coinbase Gets Full U.S. Trust Bank Charter for Crypto Custody, November 9, 2026 (secondary reporting: OCC application record reviewed November 9, 2026; control number 2025-Charter-343449, proposed charter number 25390; application received October 3, 2025, approved April 2, 2026, effective November 6, 2026)
• MABOnChain, Ripple Wins Final OCC Approval for Its National Trust Bank, October 27, 2026 (secondary context: Ripple's full OCC charter on October 26, 2026 after conditional approval on December 12, 2025)

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.