Coinbase’s Federal Trust Charter Puts Crypto Custody Under One Regulator—But It Is Not a Commercial Bank

By Isaac • November 9, 2026 3:14 pm •

Coinbase has crossed the final line on a federal trust charter, giving its institutional crypto-custody business a national regulatory home without turning the exchange into a conventional bank.

The Decrypt report says Coinbase National Trust Company received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency after securing preliminary conditional approval in April. Coinbase announced the milestone Monday, while the regulator’s public application record shows the charter became effective on November 6.

The approval moves Coinbase’s institutional custody business toward one federal supervisory framework after years under a New York limited-purpose trust charter. Coinbase says the structure can support expanded custody capabilities, while any future payments or stablecoin activity would still require the appropriate