The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the application on 6 November 2026, granting final approval for the charter of Coinbase National Trust Company (CNTC). According to the official press release, the charter allows US-based Coinbase to expand its digital asset custody operations within a federal regulatory framework.
Custody is central to Coinbase’s business: the company states that it has safeguarded digital assets for more than 14 years and counts a number of large financial services firms among its custody clients. With this in mind, the federal charter is intended to bring uniform regulatory treatment to these custody capabilities and to strengthen the framework under which the company serves its customers.
From state to federal supervision
Before the OCC decision, Coinbase’s custody activities were shaped primarily by its relationship with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). In 2017, Coinbase Inc. obtained a BitLicense from the state regulator, and in 2018, Coinbase Custody Trust Company received approval for a New York limited-purpose trust charter. According to the company, these approvals helped establish the security, compliance, and customer protection standards under which its custody business has since operated.
The OCC approval marks the next stage in that regulatory path. CNTC’s trust activities will now sit within a consistent federal framework, while Coinbase indicates that it will continue to build on the foundation developed under NYDFS supervision. The company presents federal uniformity as the main benefit of the charter, applying a single set of standards to the custody services that its institutional clients rely on.
The approval comes as digital assets become more embedded in the financial system. Coinbase describes the charter as a step towards aligning digital asset custody with the traditional financial infrastructure that institutions and individuals already know and use. In practice, the move places a crypto-native firm’s custody trust activities under the same federal oversight structure that governs national trust companies more broadly.
For institutions evaluating digital asset custody providers, the decision adds a federally chartered option from a company whose core business is crypto. It also reflects the growing intersection between crypto firms and established supervisory models, as custody of digital assets moves closer to the standards applied in conventional finance.
Regulatory engagement as strategy
Coinbase has long positioned constructive engagement with regulators as essential to building products that clients can trust, and the OCC charter extends that approach from a state to a federal level. Furthermore, the company described the approval as a step forward for both Coinbase and the wider crypto industry, linking it to the company’s pursuit of clear and consistent regulatory oversight and to its view of US leadership in digital assets.
Furthermore, Coinbase has also framed the charter as part of its longer-term effort to build what it describes as the future of finance across its business, with custody remaining one of the foundations of that strategy.
