The news: Stablecoin issuer Circle has applied for a US trust bank license, less than a month after its IPO launch, per Reuters. It has been planning the move since before the IPO.
The strategy: CEO Jeremy Allaire told Reuters that becoming a publicly traded company and then a national trust company is a continuation of Circle's commitment to the “highest standards of trust, transparency, governance, and compliance.”
If granted by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the charter would permit Circle to act as a custodian for its own stablecoin reserves and hold crypto assets specifically for institutional clients. But it won’t yet be allowed to act as a full-service retail bank and accept cash deposits or issue loans.