OCC clears Circle trust bank; deposit and loan powers barred

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved Circle’s application to establish a federally supervised trust bank, legally named First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., operating as Circle National Trust, to provide fiduciary custody of digital assets. The charter bars the bank from accepting ordinary retail deposits or making loans.

The OCC issued final approval on July 10, ending a preliminary conditional authorization granted in December 2025. The charter authorizes a national trust bank limited to fiduciary activities and does not permit standard commercial-banking services such as retail deposit accounts, checking or savings, lending, or FDIC-insured retail operations.

Circle confirmed that at opening the trust bank will provide fiduciary digital-asset custody for Circle and its affiliates under direct OCC supervision. The company did not provide an opening date or a timeline for completing the operational steps required to begin business. The bank’s legal name will be First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., operating as Circle National Trust.

Circle has said the charter could support expanded services over time. The company has identified the potential to offer custody to a limited number of outside institutions, focusing on banks and other regulated financial organizations if demand warrants. Managing the reserve assets for the USDC stablecoin is listed as a possible future capability, but no timing or commitment has been announced.

The charter allows Circle to place custody, and potentially reserve management, within a single federally supervised entity rather than relying on third-party firms. USDC has a market capitalization of about $73.3 billion, and the issuer has identified control over custody and reserve processes as an operational priority.

The OCC approval does not automatically increase USDC distribution or liquidity. Placement of the stablecoin in wallets, exchanges and payment systems depends on decisions by those platform partners and on competition from other dollar-pegged token issuers.

The application drew objections from some banking groups. The Independent Community Bankers of America argued during the review that national trust charters can give nonbank fintech firms benefits similar to banks without the full capital and consumer-protection rules that apply to insured commercial banks. The OCC issued final approval despite those concerns.

Operational milestones will determine how the trust bank functions in practice: when Circle National Trust opens, whether outside institutions use its custody services, and whether USDC reserve management is later moved into the bank. At present, Circle has federal supervision for fiduciary custody but does not have deposit-taking or lending powers.