Coinbase Gets OCC Trust Bank Approval as ICBA Challenges Rule

By Tom Whitfield

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave Coinbase the green light for a trust bank charter, placing the company alongside Ripple in the expanding U.S. crypto-banking pipeline.

Ripple secured full OCC approval last month for its own national trust bank charter. That followed conditional clearance in December 2025, and Ripple had first applied in July 2025.

What does the OCC green light change?

The action brings Coinbase into a federal trust-bank structure that more crypto firms have sought as they bring services under U.S. banking regulation. The shift has picked up since Congress passed the GENIUS Act.

Under President Donald Trump, the OCC has shown greater openness toward crypto businesses and stablecoin providers. The OCC granted conditional trust status to World Liberty Financial, which is linked to Trump's family. It also gave Circle Internet Group final approval to use the federal framework for its USDC stablecoin operations.

The charter approvals do not resolve the dispute over whether crypto firms must meet the same obligations as traditional banks. That question now sits at the center of a lawsuit filed by the Independent Community Bankers of America against the OCC.

Who else has entered the federal trust-bank pipeline?

• Ripple received full OCC approval last month, after conditional clearance in December 2025 and an initial application in July 2025.
• Circle Internet Group received final approval for its USDC stablecoin operations under the federal framework.
• Stripe-owned Bridge received conditional approval to establish a national trust bank for its USDB stablecoin, reserve management and digital asset custody services.
• Crypto.com secured conditional approval for a national trust bank covering custody, staking and trade settlements.
• Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Assets received similar preliminary conditional grants.
• World Liberty Financial received conditional trust status, adding another Trump-family-linked company to the OCC's crypto approval pipeline.

The approvals span several stages. Circle's final authorization differs from the conditional and preliminary grants. Bridge and Crypto.com remain at the conditional stage, while Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Assets sit at the preliminary stage. Several major firms have therefore not reached final approval.

Why are community banks challenging the OCC?

The ICBA lawsuit centers on an OCC rule published in March 2026. The rule clarified that national trust banks can also carry out certain non-fiduciary activities.

In its federal-court filing in Washington, DC, ICBA also challenges related Interpretive Letter N1176. The group asks the court to strike down both the OCC's final rule and the interpretive letter.

ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said: “Congress never intended these charters to become a shortcut for crypto firms to gain the credibility of a federal banking license without meeting the same requirements as traditional banks.”

The group's argument focuses on regulatory equivalence. Traditional banks face FDIC insurance, Community Reinvestment Act obligations and stricter capital and liquidity rules, according to ICBA. The group says crypto companies can obtain the credibility of a federal banking license while avoiding those requirements, creating what it describes as an unfair advantage.

The dispute therefore concerns the operating boundary between national trust banks and traditional banks. The challenged rule determines which non-fiduciary activities approved national trust banks may conduct, while Interpretive Letter N1176 supplies another basis for the OCC's interpretation.

What could the lawsuit change?

ICBA's requested relief targets the legal foundation for the broader activity framework, rather than one company's application. A successful challenge could alter how the OCC applies the March 2026 rule to present and future trust-bank charters.

Until the Washington, DC court resolves ICBA's challenge, the March 2026 final rule and Interpretive Letter N1176 will continue to define the permissible non-fiduciary activity boundary for the growing national trust-bank market.