Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) Global said Thursday that the firm has received conditional approval from a key federal regulator to become a bank.
Final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) brings a new threshold of legitimacy to Coinbase in the eyes of certain clients, vice president of Institutional Product Greg Tusar said in an interview.
Coinbase already carries a limited-purpose trust charter issued by the New York Department of Financial Services, which allows it to have custody of digital assets for clients at the state level within its institutional business, Coinbase Prime.
A federal charter “will unlock a broader addressable market for us,” Tusar said.
“We’re the custodian to over 80% of the world’s [digital asset] ETFs, but there are a number of other asset managers and hedge funds and others that would like to see the entity that they face have this kind of charter,” Tusar added.
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The key milestone comes as the crypto world, once seen as ring-fenced from mainstream finance, has found a number of routes to legitimate incorporation during President Trump’s second term in office.
The OCC gave conditional approval to several other crypto firms seeking this same charter late last year, including BitGo (BTGO), Circle Internet Group (CRCL), Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple (RIPL.PVT), and Paxos. Morgan Stanley, Citadel Securities-backed EDX Markets, and the Trump Family’s biggest crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, have since joined the rush for a national trust charter.
Coinbase National Trust Company, which submitted an application for the OCC’s national trust charter in October, must check off several procedural hurdles before receiving final charter approval, including holding its first board meeting, adopting bylaws, establishing its payment rails, and passing a pre-opening OCC exam.
Coinbase’s institutional business managed $245.7 billion in assets under management, approximately 7% of the total crypto market as of June 2025, according to its charter application.
David Hollerith covers the financial sector, ranging from the country’s biggest banks to regional lenders, private equity firms, and the cryptocurrency space.
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