Circle wins U.S. approval for national trust bank charter

Circle won final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday to establish a national trust bank, a step that briefly lifted its shares about 10% in premarket trading and pushed the stablecoin issuer closer to the regulated banking system.

Its approved bank, First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., will operate under the Circle National Trust brand and sit under direct OCC oversight, with authority to act as custodian for its own reserves and to hold crypto assets on behalf of institutional clients. The OCC decision letter said the proposed bank could provide collateral trustee and digital asset custody services in a fiduciary capacity, along with reserve management services tied to those activities.

Circle first applied for the charter on June 30, 2025, saying the approval would strengthen USDC infrastructure, help meet requirements under the proposed GENIUS Act and open custody services to institutional customers. The OCC followed with conditional approval on December 12, 2025, one of five national trust bank charter applications the agency had conditionally approved at the time. The agency said those firms would join about 60 other national trust banks under its supervision if they met the required conditions.

The company priced its upsized initial public offering at $31 a share on June 4, 2025 and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange the next day under the ticker CRCL. Before Friday’s approval, Circle shares were down about 20.5% for the year. After the announcement, the stock rose about 10% in premarket trading.

Circle issues USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin designed to track the U.S. dollar and widely used to move funds between crypto assets. USDC's market value was about $73.2 billion.