Stablecoin issuer Circle (NYSE:CRCL) has shared that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted final approval to operate the First National Digital Currency Bank. The bank is a national trust entity.
Circle submitted an application to the OCC on June 30, 2025, and received a conditional approval in December, 2025. The approval is also emblematic of the policy shift between the prior administration and the current one, with the latter supporting digital asset innovation and the prior attempting to stymie it.
A national trust is different than a federally regulated commercial bank. A trust specializes in supporting financial institutions and managing assets and typically does not hold deposits and make consumer loans.
Circle states that this will strengthen its USDC operations, which are currently the second-largest dollar-based stablecoin in the world.
In a release, Jeremy Allaire, the founder and CEO of Circle, said Federal oversight sets a new standard for governance and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where financial institutions can “build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”
Circle explained its intent to offer digital asset custody services for itself and its affiliates, such as banks and other financial institutions.
