Stablecoin issuer Circle has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank. This milestone shifts the company's $73.2 billion USDC stablecoin from a state-by-state regulatory patchwork to a unified federal framework.
The announcement sent Circle's stock price climbing, with shares rising over 8% in early trading. The company states the charter will enhance the safety and transparency of its operations for safeguarding customer assets.
This approval is part of a significant regulatory shift under the Trump administration, which has granted similar banking charters to firms like Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. The trend has drawn both praise and criticism in Washington.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire called it a historic day for building a new monetary layer for the internet. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also praised the decision, despite his exchange recently supporting a rival stablecoin project called Open USD.