Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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USDC issuer Circle has applied for a national banking license
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The license would enable the company to act as a custodian for its own reserves.
Circle Applies for a U.S. Banking License
Circle Internet Group (ticker CRCL) has applied for a national banking license. This is according to a report by Reuters.
Per the report, if the license is approved by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, it would enable Circle to act as a custodian for its own reserves and hold crypto assets on behalf of institutional clients. However, the license would not allow Circle to accept cash deposits from customers or issue loans like traditional banks do.
This latest development comes after Circle went public last month, with the company valued at around $18 billion.
Reuters added that the OCC-regulated entity would be called First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. This report comes roughly two months after initial reports emerged that Circle and BitGo were planning to apply for banking licenses in the United States.
Circle, USDC’s issuer, went public on June 5 under the ticker CRCL. It can be considered as one of the hottest IPOs in years as the offering was 25 times oversubscribed, priced above the indicated range at $31, and soared 167% on the first day.
With the United States Senate recently passing the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, market analysts believe that Circle could become the largest regulated stablecoin under this act.
USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin, with a market cap of over $61 billion.
