
Wise Shifts Strategy for US Bank Charter Under GENIUS Act Framework
Wise to apply for a national trust bank charter under the GENIUS Act after OCC rejection citing AML/CFT compliance issues.

Wise to apply for a national trust bank charter under the GENIUS Act after OCC rejection citing AML/CFT compliance issues.

Circle, a stablecoin issuer, received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a trust bank. This allows Circle to manage reserves directly for its stablecoins, primarily USDC, and will operate under the name Circle National Trust.

Circle, a stablecoin issuer, received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a trust bank. This allows Circle to directly manage reserves for its USDC stablecoin and shifts its regulatory oversight to a national level, boosting its appeal as regulated infrastructure for institutional clients.

Robinhood Chain, launched just a week ago, has rapidly become a top blockchain by processing $568 million in trading volume on Wednesday and over $350 million by Thursday. Fueled by memecoins like Cash Cat, the Arbitrum-powered network saw millions of transactions and hundreds of thousands of active addresses, with significant gains for related tokens and Arbitrum's ARB.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding answers from the OCC regarding crypto bank charters, arguing they weaken banking safeguards and pose risks to the U.S. financial system. She also raised concerns about potential ties between the OCC and Donald Trump over a charter application.

Peter Thiel-backed Augustus has won conditional OCC approval for a US bank charter focused on AI-driven payments and stablecoin settlement infrastructure.

Crypto exchange Kraken is seeking a U.S. federal banking charter to complement its Wyoming SPDI subsidiary.

World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff also said Thursday that the crypto firm is “in the final stages” of receiving bank charter approval from the Trump administration.