Coinbase goes after National Trust Charter — But don’t call it a bank

Crypto speech Coinbase has applied for a National Trust Company Charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), joining a increasing fig of US-based crypto companies pursuing the aforesaid license.

“Coinbase is taking a important measurement successful expanding our concern capabilities and regulatory oversight beyond the existing framework, paving the mode for innovation and maturation successful gathering a modern fiscal strategy powered by integer assets,” Coinbase said successful a connection connected Friday.

Coinbase pursues the licence to “bridge the gap” with TradFi

According to Coinbase, pursuing the licence is portion of its strategy “to span the spread betwixt the crypto system and accepted fiscal system.” However, it has nary involvement successful changing the halfway absorption of its operations:

“Coinbase has nary volition of becoming a bank. It is our steadfast content that wide rules and the spot of our regulators and customers alteration Coinbase to confidently innovate portion ensuring due oversight and security.”

Luke Youngblood, a erstwhile Coinbase worker who led the instauration of Coinbase staking rewards, explained successful a podcast published connected Friday that the licence would alteration Coinbase to “offer fundamentally built-in on-ramp, off-ramp, and nary longer person to usage spouse banks on-ramps, off-ramps.”

Source: Coinbase

However, governmental commentator Brendan Pedersen added, “Trusts theoretically person much limitations than different types of banks erstwhile it comes to concern activities, but the favoritism has blurred implicit the years.”

Former Coinbase exec notes app improvement

Youngblood said the Coinbase retail exertion has improved importantly since helium stopped moving astatine the speech successful 2022. “When I worked determination backmost successful 2022, earlier I left, it was not that great. The features, similar the Coinbase debit card, didn’t enactment precise well,” Youngblood said.

“You tin truly archer they’ve hired immoderate apical engineering talent,” Youngblood said.

Coinbase said that support of the licence would let the speech to grow beyond custody services, opening the doorway to payments and different related offerings nether clearer regulatory guidance.

Related: AI agents request crypto to run successful fiscal markets: Coinbase exec

It comes arsenic respective different crypto companies person besides precocious applied for the National Trust Charter.

On July 1, stablecoin issuer Circle applied to establish a nationalist spot slope successful the US. A mates of days later, Ripple Labs applied for the aforesaid license. 

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse said if the licence is approved, it would beryllium a “new (and unique!) benchmark for spot successful the stablecoin market”

Magazine: Hong Kong isn’t the loophole Chinese crypto firms deliberation it is