The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted Coinbase conditional approval for a national bank trust charter. Chief legal officer Paul Grewal announced the approval on Thursday, thanking OCC head Jonathan Gould. This makes Coinbase one of several major cryptocurrency firms, including Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos, to receive such regulatory approval in recent months.
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has approved cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s application for a national bank trust charter after six months of consideration. This conditional approval was outlined in a Thursday post by chief legal officer Paul Grewal.
Grewal said the company received the approval, following December approvals for Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos. He specifically thanked OCC head Jonathan Gould, who took office less than a year ago.
Although the company said it had “no intention of becoming a bank” if approved, the move by US regulators marks one of the most significant forays into bridging crypto and traditional finance. At the time of the announcement, the OCC website showed no change to Coinbase’s application status.
The application was still marked as received by the banking regulator. The approval represents a notable regulatory step for a major cryptocurrency exchange operating within the United States.
