Coinbase’s federal trust charter takes effect

Coinbase’s national trust charter took effect Nov. 6, putting its planned institutional crypto custody business under federal oversight, according to the OCC’s filing record. Coinbase said Nov. 9 that the agency had granted final approval to charter Coinbase National Trust Company, as described in the company’s announcement.

• Oct. 3, 2025: Coinbase filed its charter application.
• April 2, 2026: The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval.
• Nov. 6, 2026: The OCC record marked the charter consummated and effective.

What can Coinbase National Trust Company do?

The charter covers trust company operations, including holding digital assets for customers in a fiduciary role. That means the company would hold assets for clients and act in their interests under its trust duties.

The OCC’s April decision describes a plan to serve mainly institutional custody clients. It says the trust company may let those customers accept, hold and transfer fiat currency and digital assets in their custody accounts, and help them access certain Coinbase affiliate services related to those assets.

The OCC’s decision says the bank’s planned activities are limited to trust operations and related services. It also says Coinbase National Trust Company does not propose to issue stablecoins.

Does the charter make Coinbase a full-service bank?

No. The OCC’s charter decision requires the company to limit its operations to trust business and related activities, and not to meet the definition of a bank under the Bank Holding Company Act.

CoinDesk reported that the charter does not allow Coinbase National Trust Company to operate as a full-service bank taking deposits and making loans. The approval is for a nationally chartered trust company, a narrower role focused here on custody and services connected to custodial accounts.

That distinction matters if you hold or use crypto through Coinbase: the charter changes the federal oversight for the trust company’s covered business, but it does not turn the exchange into a conventional deposit-taking bank. Coinbase’s announcement said the charter will put its trust activities under a federal regulatory framework.

What happens to Coinbase’s existing custody business?

The OCC’s April decision says Coinbase planned to move its custody business from Coinbase Custody Trust Company, a New York state-chartered trust company, to the new national trust company over a three-year period. That is a stated migration plan; the OCC’s public filing record confirms the charter’s effective date, but does not say that customer accounts have already moved.

The new charter follows an earlier federal step. In April, the OCC gave preliminary conditional approval, with final approval dependent on meeting pre-opening requirements. Coinbase now says it has that final approval, while the OCC’s record gives the effective date as Nov. 6.

Sources and documents

• OCC’s filing record — apps.occ.gov
• announcement — coinbase.com