Coinbase seeks OCC trust charter to grow payments business

Coinbase Global Inc., the largest US crypto exchange, is seeking a national trust company charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the company said Friday.

Payments have become a big area of focus for Coinbase in the past year, as the use of stablecoins has taken off. President Donald Trump signed a law in July regulating stablecoins, fueling the industry’s growth. Coinbase has already struck partnerships with companies including Shopify Inc. to rev up the use of USDC, the world’s second-biggest stablecoin, which it supports and shares revenue from with issuer Circle Internet Group Inc.

“An OCC charter will streamline oversight for new offerings and enable continued innovation to integrate digital assets into traditional finance,” Tusar’s blog said.

Other crypto companies and financial-technology firms have been pursuing or considering national bank charters.

Circle applied for a national trust charter in June, while blockchain providers Ripple Labs Inc. and Paxos Inc. did so in July and August, respectively. Crypto custodian Anchorage Digital Bank NA, for instance, has already been granted one.

Coinbase is applying for the charter as Congress is working on a market-structure bill that’s expected to better define oversight and regulation of the crypto industry. It’s expected to go through markup in the Senate in late-October but may not pass until some time next year.

Coinbase’s shares are up 53% since the beginning of the year, to $380.02, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.