Circle Wins NYDFS Trust Charter, Strengthening USDC Regulatory Foundation

Circle has secured a limited purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services for its new entity, Circle Internet Trust Company LLC, operating as Circle New York Trust. This comes just three weeks after federal regulators cleared Circle's national trust bank.

The charter allows Circle to provide fiduciary, custody, and asset management services to clients, but it does not grant general powers of a commercial bank, such as accepting consumer deposits or originating loans.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire called the approval 'a longstanding objective' for the company, citing the regulatory clarity that comes with it. This is Circle's second New York license, following its 2015 BitLicense, which allowed virtual currency business activity but did not include fiduciary powers.