Circle applies for nationwide belief financial institution license to increase USDC reserve custody

Ethereum Futures Quantity Hits Highest Stage On Binance Since Mid-December — Particulars

January 17, 2026

White Home Might Drop Crypto Invoice After Coinbase Withdrawal: Report

January 17, 2026

Key Takeaways

Circle is in search of a nationwide belief financial institution constitution to handle its USDC reserves and provide tokenized asset custody.
The transfer comes as Congress advances stablecoin laws anticipated to be signed into legislation by President Trump.

Circle filed as we speak for a nationwide belief financial institution constitution with the US Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money, aiming to increase its means to custody digital belongings and handle reserves for its USDC stablecoin.

The corporate’s transfer follows its June 5 IPO, which gave Circle an preliminary market cap of round $6 billion. With its inventory now buying and selling at $181, the corporate is at the moment valued at roughly $44 billion.

The proposed entity, First Nationwide Digital Foreign money Financial institution, N.A., would allow Circle to straight custody USDC reserves and supply digital asset custody companies to institutional shoppers, although it will not deal with money deposits or lending.

“Establishing a nationwide digital foreign money belief financial institution of this type marks a major milestone in our aim to construct an web monetary system that’s clear, environment friendly and accessible,” Circle Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire stated in a press launch.

BlackRock and BNY Mellon at the moment handle and custody Circle’s USDC reserves. Whereas the brand new belief financial institution would take over reserve administration, Circle intends to take care of relationships with main banks for parts of its holdings. Allaire indicated the financial institution would think about tokenized shares and bonds quite than digital belongings like Bitcoin or Ether.

The enlargement comes as lawmakers advance laws regulating stablecoins. The invoice, which handed the Senate and is anticipated to clear the Home this summer season, would require stablecoins to take care of liquid asset backing and supply month-to-month reserve disclosures. President Trump is anticipated to signal the measure into legislation.

A number of brokerages initiated protection of Circle inventory this week, with Barclays, Bernstein, and Canaccord issuing bullish rankings and worth targets above $200. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs expressed issues in regards to the firm’s valuation following its post-IPO inventory worth doubling.