Coinbase applied for a Federal Safe Harbor.

Coinbase Applies for Federal Chartered Institution

Coinbase has announced that it has applied for a national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). If approved, this move will place the company under federal regulatory oversight.

The charter would allow Coinbase to enhance its existing custody services and offer new services such as payments and settlements. The company also emphasized that it does not intend to obtain a full-service banking charter. Greg Tusar, Vice President of Institutional Products at Coinbase, stated in a blog post, "Coinbase has no intention of becoming a bank." He added, "Having clear rules and regulators, as well as the trust of our customers, allows Coinbase to innovate confidently while providing appropriate oversight and security."

Currently, Coinbase's main regulated custody service operates through the Coinbase Custody Trust Company (CCTC), which is licensed under New York State's BitLicense regulation. This framework, introduced in 2015, is one of the earliest state-level regulatory models for cryptocurrencies in the United States.

The federal charter would provide Coinbase with greater flexibility in offering new financial services and relieve the necessity of obtaining approvals on a state-by-state basis.

Coinbase's move comes after crypto companies like Circle, Ripple, and Paxos applied for federal oversight earlier this year.