Circle Internet Group NYSE:CRCL, the stablecoin issuer behind the USDC token, has received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national digital-currency trust bank supporting its stablecoin operations. The planned Circle National Trust will allow the company to provide services including institutional asset custody and settlement under federal OCC supervision. Circle shares rose 11% in premarket trading on Friday as investors assessed how the new charter could expand the company's digital-asset services while bringing its regulatory oversight under a single federal framework.
Unlike a traditional retail bank, Circle National Trust will not accept customer deposits, but it will be permitted to custody assets and process settlements. The federal charter may reduce the need for Circle to operate through separate state-by-state regulatory structures. Jeremy Allaire, Circle's co-founder and chief executive officer, described the approval as a defining step toward moving blockchain technology and digital assets further into the core of the U.S. financial system.
The final approval follows conditional authorization granted to Circle and several other digital-asset companies at the end of last year, as the Trump administration continued to support the cryptocurrency industry. President Donald Trump also signed the Genius Act last year, establishing the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins and expanding OCC authority to include non-bank payment stablecoin issuers such as Circle. Stablecoins now have a combined market value above $310 billion, while Morningstar has projected that circulation could reach $1.45 trillion by 2035 as adoption grows across cross-border payments and remittances, suggesting Circle's new charter could become increasingly important as the market expands.