Coinbase Chases OCC Charter: Banking or Bold Move?

by

From the front row of the fintech soap opera, Coinbase has decided it’s time for a national trust company charter from the OCC. Imagine a crypto exchange in a blazer, clutching a red pen, whispering, “More regulation, please”-as if regulation were a new shade of lipstick. It’s expansion with a side of bureaucratic coffee, and yes, I’m watching with the kind of curiosity I reserve for last season’s reality show. 😂

Coinbase to Become a Bank?

On October 3, Coinbase announced it’s pursuing the United States OCC Federal Charter, a move that sounds very grown-up and possibly terrifying. It’s pitched as a step toward scaling up, but with a brand-new set of regulatory oversight that makes the adult world feel a tad more glamorous-and a lot more paperwork. The broader financial sector might just get a sprinkle of innovation, if the stars align and the audit reports behave themselves. 📝✨

Greg Tusar, Coinbase vice president of institutional product, reminded everyone that the crypto firm is not the first to seek the OCC Federal Charter. Still, he’s confident the approval will “streamline oversight for new offerings and enable continued innovation to integrate digital assets into traditional finance.” A fancy way of saying: business as usual, but with more meetings and fewer coffee breaks. ☕🤞

And no, there’s absolutely no plan to become a bank. Coinbase just wants rules that are crystal-clear, regulators and customers who aren’t terrified to click a button, and the security that comes with both. In Tusar’s view, those characteristics give the exchange the confidence to innovate while keeping everything properly overseen and safe. It’s a fashion, darling-regulated, chic, and a little bit intimidating. 🛡️

Circle, Ripple, and Paxos Pursue OCC Federal Charter

The appetite for the Federal Charter isn’t limited to Coinbase. Circle, Ripple, Paxos, and BitGo are among the hopefuls. Back in 2021, Paxos had received preliminary approval, joining Anchorage and Protego, which already boasted federal banking charters. The plot thickens, like a good plot twist in a long-running soap. 🧭

Ripple, the San Francisco-based blockchain payments firm, officially applied for the license around July, alongside a Federal Reserve Master Account. The aim? To cement regulatory trust and plug directly into the US banking system-no more clever footnotes in the margins. 💼💫

Circle followed suit. If approved, the stablecoin issuer would be renamed First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A.-a name that sounds both prestigious and slightly ridiculous in equal measure. The charter would allow Circle to manage USDC reserves and custody of tokenized financial assets. It’s like giving a gold-plated bookmark to the future. ✨

The crypto market is global, and we need uniform national rules to protect every consumer as the market continues to evolve.

That’s why we’ve applied for a @USOCC national trust charter and the federal regulatory oversight and clarity that it provides.

– Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) October 3, 2025

Read More

2025-10-04 19:26