On 9 July 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval for Circle Internet Group, Inc. to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., a national trust bank operating under the business name Circle National Trust. The bank opened on 24 July 2026 and is subject to direct federal prudential supervision by the OCC as a federally chartered national association under the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. section 1 et seq.
National trust banks chartered under the National Bank Act may engage in fiduciary and trust activities without accepting insured deposits and without FDIC deposit insurance coverage. The OCC issued a conditional approval for the First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. application in December 2025, as part of a package that also conditionally approved Ripple National Trust Bank and three other digital-asset trust bank charter applications. Final approval followed Circle's satisfaction of the pre-opening conditions specified in that conditional decision.
Circle National Trust's approved activities include managing the portfolio of liquid reserve assets backing USDC issued by a related New York limited purpose trust company on a directed, non-discretionary basis; acting as collateral trustee for USDC holders on a fiduciary basis; and providing digital asset custody services to Circle affiliates. Stablecoin issuers, crypto-asset service providers, institutional custodians, and digital asset exchanges that use USDC as a settlement asset will interact with a federally chartered bank counterpart within the Circle corporate structure for the first time.
The OCC's Digital Assets Licensing Applications tracker lists further charter applications pending from digital-asset businesses. The OCC confirmed in 2025 interpretive letters that national trust banks may hold digital assets as fiduciaries and that federally chartered banks may engage in digital asset custody, stablecoin reserve management, and node verification. These positions establish a standing federal-charter pathway alongside existing state trust company routes used by digital-asset custodians licensed in New York, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Licentium advises digital asset businesses on US and cross-border regulatory structuring, including charter and licensing strategy for custody, stablecoin, and payment operations. Contact us to discuss your regulatory position. Work we undertake includes national trust bank charter feasibility and application strategy, stablecoin reserve structuring and custody analysis, US state trust company licensing, crypto-asset service provider authorisation, and cross-border regulatory mapping.