Ethereum

    America is creating a new class of crypto banks

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    Circle now has a federal bank charter. However, the charter provides no ordinary checking accounts, FDIC-insured savings accounts, or mortgages.

    Circle National Trust is part of a new federal cohort built around custody, fiduciary administration, stablecoin reserves, and settlement.

    Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, Bridge, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Morgan Stanley and World Liberty Financial have all received some form of Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approval since December. Most are still completing conditions required before opening.

    Washington is giving crypto companies the regulatory shell of banking while separating it from the business model Americans usually associate with a bank. The result is a narrow institution that supervises assets and transactions without relying on the classic formula of collecting deposits and turning them into loans.

    That legal form of a non-bank bank actually predates crypto. The OCC said it already supervised roughly 60 national trust banks when it approved five digital-asset applications in December. Its Morgan Stanley decision put assets under administration at uninsured national trust banks at $7.2 trillion as of March 31, including $1.7 trillion in custody and safekeeping accounts. Crypto has found a way to use that old form to capture the parts of finance best suited to tokens.

    A bank charter is no longer a banking bundle

    A commercial bank combines several functions under one roof. It gathers deposits, runs payment accounts, extends credit, and holds assets for customers. Deposit insurance supports confidence in the funding base, while lending produces much of the income.

    A national trust bank, however, starts from a very different position. Its center of gravity is fiduciary work: holding property for another party, administering assets, executing instructions, and maintaining records. The OCC’s trust-bank guidance says most national trust banks don’t offer loans, accept deposits, or carry FDIC insurance.

    That model fits digital assets well. Institutions need a regulated entity to safeguard private keys, segregate customer property, administer tokenized assets, and connect transfers with conventional settlement. Stablecoin issuers also need reserve custody and redemption operations that can withstand federal examination. None of those jobs actually requires a retail branch network or a mortgage book.

    Circle is already well regulated and well positioned in the US market. The OCC granted final approval on July 10 for First National Digital Currency Bank, which will operate as Circle National Trust. At opening, it plans to provide fiduciary digital-asset custody for Circle and its affiliates. Custody for selected institutions and management of USDC reserves are listed as possible future capabilities.

    CryptoSlate’s earlier examination of Circle’s charter explained why the word “bank” doesn’t create ordinary deposit or lending powers. The wider cohort establishes a federal category spanning issuers, custodians, and financial groups.

    The OCC opened a federal lane

    The OCC’s published decisions separate final approvals from preliminary or conditional ones. A conditional decision allows an applicant to organize the institution and satisfy capital, governance, compliance and operating requirements. Opening comes later, once those conditions are met.

    The approved companies are only the visible edge of a wider application queue. Comptroller Jonathan Gould said on Aug. 19 that 23 of the 40 de novo charter applications received over the preceding 18 months included digital-asset activity in their business plans. He also said the OCC expects to issue its final GENIUS Act rule by November.

    Crypto is therefore present in a majority of the agency’s recent new-bank pipeline, even before the pending applications reach a public decision.