Circle received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 10 to establish a national trust bank named First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., doing business as Circle National Trust. The bank will provide fiduciary digital‑asset custody for Circle and its affiliates under direct OCC supervision and will not accept ordinary deposits, make loans, offer checking or savings accounts, or provide FDIC‑insured retail banking services.

The trust‑bank charter allows Circle to manage its USDC reserve, which totals about $73.3 billion, and to streamline compliance ahead of potential passage of the GENIUS Act. Circle said the bank may later offer custody directly to a limited number of regulated financial institutions if demand arises, and it may bring reserve management inside the trust bank at a later date, though no timeline has been disclosed.

The OCC’s decision follows a conditional approval issued in December 2025 and represents a final step in the charter process. Circle indicated that the new framework gives it a federal fiduciary structure that competing stablecoin issuers may find difficult to replicate quickly, potentially influencing which banks and regulated firms choose digital‑dollar infrastructure.

The Independent Community Bankers of America raised concerns during the application that national trust charters could grant fintech companies bank‑like benefits without the full capital and consumer‑protection requirements of insured commercial banks, but the OCC granted the charter anyway. Operational testing will determine whether external institutions adopt Circle’s custody service and whether USDC reserve management is transferred into the trust bank.