Coinbase (COIN) plans to apply for a national trust company charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) as it seeks to ramp up its payments business and launch products beyond its institutional custody service.
Greg Tusar, V.P. of institutional product for Coinbase, said in the blog post that the charter would allow the company “to bridge the gap between the crypto economy and traditional financial system.”
“Coinbase has no intention of becoming a bank,” he added. “It is our firm belief that clear rules and the trust of our regulators and customers enable Coinbase to confidently innovate while ensuring proper oversight and security.”
Tusar said that the OCC charter would also “streamline oversight for new offerings and enable continued innovation to integrate digital assets into traditional finance.”
The company launched Coinbase Payments in June and partnered with Shopify, giving merchants the ability to enable stablecoin payment options.
Coinbase also forged an alliance with JPMorgan Chase in July.
Starting this fall, Chase cardholders will be able to make purchases directly on Coinbase.
In 2026, Chase Ultimate Rewards points will become redeemable for USDC, the first time a major credit card has converted loyalty points into crypto rewards. Next year, customers will also be able to directly link Chase accounts to Coinbase.
Its payments business has grown more important for Coinbase with the passing of the GENIUS Act that is expected to rapidly increase the adoption of stablecoins.
And Coinbase is not the only company in the crypto space seeking a national trust company charter: Circle Internet Group (CRCL), Ripple Labs and Paxos all applied for one this past summer, according to Bloomberg.
A big victory in the Big Apple
As Coinbase goes through the application process with the OCC, the company scored a regulatory victory on Wednesday when New York made it legal to begin staking cryptocurrencies on Coinbase, including Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
Staking refers to holding and “locking up” a certain amount of cryptocurrency in order to support the operations of a proof-of-stake network – such as Ethereum – in order to validate transactions and create new blocks in the blockchain.
The crypto industry views regulatory approval of staking to be crucial for ramping up institutional interest in tokens like ether because staking is how crypto investors can generate yield.
Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer at Coinbase, said in a blog post that New York’s approval to allow staking “is another proof point that stifling innovation and depriving residents of financial opportunities is bad policy.”
“We estimate that residents in California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Wisconsin have collectively missed out on more than $130 million in staking rewards due to state-wide bans,” he said. “That’s real money for families and communities who shouldn’t be left behind.”
The legal victory is especially significant for Coinbase because the company was sued by the SEC in 2023 after the regulator accused it of illegally offering a staking product that was an unregistered security.
The company was subsequently sued by state regulators in California and New Jersey that same year over its staking product.
However, the SEC – under much more crypto friendly leadership – offered new guidance in May in which it deemed staking not to be a security, aligning with Chairman Paul Atkins’ assessment that “most crypto tokens are not securities.”
Coinbase’s stock is up nearly 56% for the year and nearly 131% over the past 12 months.
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