Coinbase has received full approval of a federal trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to a CoinDesk report published November 9, 2026. CoinDesk says the OCC upgraded the conditional status of Coinbase National Trust, according to Coinbase.

What was announced

  • CoinDesk reports that Coinbase received provisional approval in April 2026 and, after building compliance systems, hiring staff and undergoing regulatory scrutiny, received full approval, announced November 9.
  • The provisional approval allowed federally regulated custody and payment services but not operation as a full-service bank that takes deposits and makes loans, according to CoinDesk. The article does not say whether the full charter changes that scope.
  • Coinbase Vice Chairman Ryan VanGrack is quoted as saying: “We’ve spent years asking for clear rules and rigorous oversight,” and called the approval “another major step in integrating digital assets into the core infrastructure” of the financial system.

Context

CoinDesk says the GENIUS Act created a path for federal trusts to issue compliant stablecoins, that the OCC granted Ripple a full trust charter in October 2026, and that it granted conditional trust status to World Liberty Financial, which the article describes as the family business of President Trump. The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC, claiming it overstepped its authority by granting trust charters to crypto firms, according to the article.

What the report does not include

The article does not describe new services Coinbase plans to launch under the charter or give an effective date. It does not include a statement from the OCC.

Sources and notes

This post is based on CoinDesk’s article by Jesse Hamilton, edited by Nikhilesh De, published November 9, 2026. Lens did not read an OCC notice or Coinbase’s own announcement, so the approval details are as CoinDesk reported them, and Lens did not check the OCC’s charter register. Lens did not contact Coinbase or the OCC.

Image: Exterior of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., by Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons, released under CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped. Stand-in photo; it does not show the events described.