$Coinbase (COIN.US)$On Thursday, April 2, it was officially announced that conditional approval had been obtained from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national trust bank. Paul Grewal, the company's Chief Legal Officer, stated that if final approval is granted, this cryptocurrency exchange will be able to offer custodial services under federal regulation and also operate payment products.
"In the long term, we will work with the OCC to explore not only offering custody products but also developing other infrastructure products—especially in the payments space. We believe this will drive the expansion and extension of cryptocurrency payments in various novel, interesting, and important directions," said Grewal.
The company also made it clear that it will not become a commercial bank, will not accept retail deposits, and will not engage in fractional-reserve banking—the practice where large banks retain only a small portion of customer deposits as reserves while lending out the rest.
However, the trust charter will grant it legal authorization, access to banking infrastructure, and regulatory credibility, enabling it to transfer, hold, and settle funds more efficiently. Notably, this approval represents a preliminary agreement, indicating that Coinbase’s application meets key regulatory requirements but must fulfill specific conditions before it can operate as a trust bank.
The acquisition of this key license marks$Coinbase (COIN.US)$a successful transition from a fragmented regulatory model dependent on state-by-state licensing to a unified federal regulatory framework. Although this trust charter does not permit traditional retail deposits or fractional reserve lending, it grants Coinbase the legal status to efficiently move, hold, and settle funds nationwide, clearing legal obstacles for its deeper involvement in institutional payment and settlement services.
Grewal noted that, to date, this has been "the only viable path," referring to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge during his second term to make the United States the "global capital of cryptocurrencies." The previous Biden administration was known for its anti-cryptocurrency stance, which industry insiders believed hindered sector growth and the country’s leadership on the global stage.
Grewal remarked, "We would not have pursued this effort if we did not see significant development opportunities in the crypto infrastructure space, including payments. The OCC’s conditional approval represents an important endorsement by the agency of the development of crypto infrastructure, indicating their desire to see these products and services—particularly in payments and custody—develop first within the United States."
While obtaining the federal license,$Coinbase (COIN.US)$is actively participating in legislative negotiations in Washington regarding the CLARITY Act, which aims to define the basic structure of the cryptocurrency market. Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, recently revealed that a final agreement on the bill is imminent.
The core of the current negotiations focuses on defining the compliance status of stablecoin yields. Traditional banks, concerned about losing deposits due to the attractiveness of stablecoins, are attempting to impose restrictions on rewards offered by exchanges for stablecoins. For Coinbase, pushing for legislation to establish the compliance status of USDC—a stablecoin developed in collaboration with Circle—is a necessary step toward achieving its strategic goal of making USDC the preferred global stablecoin over USDT.
Last year, the company launched Coinbase Payments, a product tailored for platforms and merchants, integrating wallet functionality and supporting stablecoin settlements. It also collaborated with Shopify to introduce a payment protocol based on its proprietary blockchain, Base. Additionally, through partnerships with Shopify and Stripe, its merchant partners can accept payments in USDC.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also stated that the company has set an "ambitious goal" of making USDC the world's leading stablecoin, a position currently held by Tether's USDT. He further expressed the aim to transform Coinbase into the "world’s top financial services application" within the next few years.
This series of actions is not an isolated local expansion but rather an extension of Coinbase's global compliance strategy. As early as June 2025, Coinbase obtained the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license issued by Luxembourg, becoming the first U.S. exchange with unified operational rights across the 27 EU member states, and establishing Luxembourg as its EU headquarters.
Against the backdrop of a more favorable stance toward cryptocurrencies by the current U.S. executive branch, Coinbase is seeking to gain an advantageous position in competition with$PayPal (PYPL.US)$and$Block (XYZ.US)$other fintech giants through dual moats of federal licensing and international compliance. As$Circle (CRCL.US)$and Ripple, among other companies, have also successively received similar OCC approvals, a compliant stablecoin market endorsed by federal regulation is accelerating its formation.
Editor/Melody