Circle approval to become a national charter bank in the US is part of the company’s regulatory strategy to increase the adoption of USDC.
Circle has received regulatory clearance to become a nationally chartered bank in the US in its bid to continue the strength of USDC.
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) sent approval to Circle today (10 July) to establish a national digital currency bank, which will be called Circle National Trust.
The new charter bank will be under direct federal oversight by the OCC, the primary regulator for national banks and national trust banks.
USDC, issued by Circle and the second-largest stablecoin in market capitalisation, will now be under federal oversight as the OCC will have direct supervision of its circulation.
This will see the charter bank bring USDC within the same currency standards laid out by the OCC to adhere to, in order to maintain 1:1 denomination and ensure safety, soundness and transparency.
As a regulated bank, Circle can embed USDC technology for US dollar payments, settlement and capital markets activity, supporting the role of the US dollar in an increasingly digital global economy.
Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle, said: “OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system.
“Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”
Circle submitted its application to the OCC in June 2025, receiving conditional approval in December 2025. US President Donald Trump has laxed entry requirements for non-US financial institutions to enter the US market in a bid to digitise the country’s financial markets and bolster competition.
Other companies to have received a national charter licence from the OCC since 2025 includes Ripple, BitGo, and Paxos.
Regulatory win as part of overall strategy
Circle has embarked on a regulatory strategy for the past decade in order to increase the circulation and adoption of USDC.
It became the first stablecoin issuer to receive a regulatory licence to operate in Europe under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. The company also holds regulatory licences in the UK, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
Despite being over $110bn behind in market capitalisation to Tether’s USDT, Circle has focused on USDC being the primary stablecoin for money movement and payments.
According to data from Visa’s on-chain dashboard, USDC made up 70% of all stablecoin volume in the first half of 2026, whereas USDT accounted for 25%.
Circle also holds a regulatory edge over Tether as USDT is being delisted in Europe due to not complying with MiCA’s stablecoin guidelines.
A new competitor to the market
While USDC begins to claw back market share from USDT, Circle may have a new stablecoin competitor to be wary of.
A group of 140 of some of the largest companies in the world, including BlackRock, Google, Mastercard, Stripe, Visa, created the Open Standard consortium to launch the OpenUSD stablecoin.
The stablecoin is not issued by a sole entity, rather, an open sourced, co-managed stablecoin that will be governed by its coalition members.
Used to serve global money movement and address current stablecoin payment friction, OpenUSD will be initially issued on the Solana blockchain, as well as the Plasma and Tempo networks.
The stablecoin is designed with three key principles: businesses can mint and redeem OpenUSD with no cost on volumes, partners can receive all earnings on reserves, and operate via all Open Standard partners to ensure decisions are made with the collective interests of everybody.
Zach Abrams, Founding CEO of Open Standard, said: “Existing stablecoins have great strengths, but to use them at scale, businesses need something that’s open, low-cost, high-throughput, broadly accessible, and aligned to their interests.
“It’s a stablecoin built for the internet economy, designed by the businesses growing it.”
