Crypto
Home›Crypto›Regulation›Circle receives limited-purpose New York trust charter…
Circle receives limited-purpose New York trust charter for USDC custody
The NYDFS approval creates Circle New York Trust, which can hold digital assets for customers under fiduciary oversight but cannot accept deposits or make loans, following Circle’s earlier federal banking charter approval.
Circle has received a limited-purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, expanding its regulatory footprint as the USDC stablecoin issuer. The approval allows Circle to operate Circle New York Trust, a New York trust company focused on providing digital asset custody services.
Under the charter, the trust company can hold digital assets on behalf of customers and act in a fiduciary role under New York banking law, but it cannot accept customer deposits or make loans like a traditional bank. Circle said it will do business as Circle New York Trust, building on the BitLicense it received in 2015.
The NYDFS decision comes after Circle’s federal banking milestone, when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the company’s application to establish a national trust bank. Circle also previously announced it acquired IBM’s blockchain patent portfolio, adding nearly 1,000 patents covering blockchain technology and financial services.
Following the announcement, shares of Circle rose 8.4% on the day, trading around $68.40, according to Yahoo Finance. Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire called the charter a long-sought objective, positioning USDC within a regulated framework as digital dollars become more central to financial systems.