Circle Internet Group, Inc. (CRCL), the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin globally, has announced that it has received a limited purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
This charter provides Circle with official state banking authorization, permitting it to offer fiduciary, custody, and asset management services in accordance with New York banking regulations.
“Acquiring a New York trust charter has been a key goal for Circle due to the regulatory clarity it provides,” remarked Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Circle.
On Friday morning, Circle’s stock remained steady at $64.24, while the market capitalization of its stablecoin, USDC, surpassed $71.8 billion.
Earlier this month, Circle also gained approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to set up a national trust bank.
National trust banks are allowed to provide custody and fiduciary services but are not permitted to accept consumer deposits or extend loans like conventional banks.
Circle noted that the establishment of the national bank would strengthen the safety and regulatory oversight of the USDC Reserve and allow the company to provide fiduciary digital asset custody and related services to institutional clients.
Prior to Circle, several other cryptocurrency firms, including Coinbase, Moonpay, Bitgo, and Paxos, have also obtained a limited purpose trust charter from the NYDFS.
Notably, Circle was the first entity to be awarded a BitLicense from the NYDFS nearly six years ago.