Coinbase Official Says Banks Are Standing In The Way Of Financial Innovation

Coinbase filed for a national trust company charter in October 2025, a step the company says would let it offer custody and trust services under federal supervision rather than a patchwork of state ￰1￱ show that the move immediately drew a formal challenge from the industry group representing many community ￰2￱ Seeks A National Trust Charter According to public filings and market coverage, Coinbase ’s application names a subsidiary intended to operate as a national trust ￰3￱ company says the charter would help clients get regulated custody for crypto assets and make interactions with the broader financial system ￰4￱ typically take time on these filings; some reports estimate the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could take 12 to 18 months to complete its ￰5￱ Lobbying And The Argument For Caution The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) lodged a formal letter arguing the application should be denied or given more time for public ￰6￱ on the ICBA letter, the group raised three main concerns: – Coinbase’s custody approach is untested for a bank-style duty – that the business may struggle to make money in a prolonged market downturn – federal receivership tools might not work well if such an entity were to fail.

Coinbase’s filings were cited in the ICBA submission as part of the basis for those ￰7￱ opposing a regulated trust charter because you prefer crypto to stay … unregulated. That’s ICBA’s position. It’s another case of bank lobbyists trying to dig regulatory moats to protect their ￰8￱ undoing a law to go after rewards to blocking charters, protectionism… ￰0￱ — ￰9￱ (@iampaulgrewal) November 4, 2025 Coinbase Pushes Back On Claims Of Protectionism According to Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, the opposition reads like a push to keep crypto activities out of a regulated banking ￰10￱ social media, he wrote a pointed line arguing critics seem to prefer crypto staying unregulated — a comment widely reported by industry press.

“Imagine opposing a regulated trust charter because you prefer crypto to stay… unregulated,” Grewal said in an X post. “That’s ICBA’s position. It’s another case of bank lobbyists trying to dig regulatory moats to protect their own,” he pointed ￰11￱ spokespeople say they are seeking a regulated route, not to become a full commercial bank, and that a trust charter fits the services they want to ￰12￱ Approval Or Denial Could Mean If the OCC approves Coinbase’s charter, other crypto firms might follow, and a federal trust model could become more common for custody ￰13￱ The OCC thumbs down or substantially delays the application, crypto firms may keep relying on state charters, partnerships, or other ￰14￱ analysts and trade groups are watching because the decision could shape whether major crypto firms move into federally supervised trust ￰15￱ Happens Next The ICBA letter is dated in early November 2025 and the OCC has not released a public ￰16￱ regulator’s review period will include requests for additional information and time for public comment in some cases, so the process can stretch across many ￰17￱ image from Gemini, chart from TradingView