Coinbase’s national trust bank charter took effect on Friday, according to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), as reported by Cointelegraph on November 9, 2026.
The charter allows Coinbase National Trust Company to hold digital assets on clients’ behalf as a fiduciary, according to the OCC’s preliminary approval letter. Coinbase applied in October 2025 and received preliminary approval in April 2026, the regulator’s filing record shows.
Custody at the center, other services through affiliates
In its charter application, Coinbase outlined plans to offer institutional clients segregated custody accounts. Access to staking, financing and trading would come through other Coinbase entities.
The application also described plans to explore digital asset payment products and custody services that would let clients interact with select smart contracts. Those were proposed areas of exploration, not confirmed product launches.
The development concerns Coinbase’s institutional custody framework. The report does not establish an effect on crypto prices, trading volumes or capital flows.
A broader field of charter applicants
Other crypto companies that received OCC national trust bank charters include Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos. Crypto.com and Stripe-owned Bridge received conditional approval, while Kraken and EDX Markets were still pursuing charters at the time of the report.
Original publication: November 9, 2026, at 19:38:52 UTC+8.
Source: Cointelegraph’s original article.
