Circle's Federal Bank Charter Enhances cirBTC Programmability
Circle National Trust has obtained federal charter status as a bank, allowing it to serve as a regulated custodian for its cirBTC product. This move enhances the programmability of Bitcoin by enabling users to access Ethereum-based DeFi protocols without having to part with their native BTC.
The federally chartered national trust bank, operating under the name First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 10, 2026. It began operations on July 24, 2026.
Circle's cirBTC is an ERC-20 token backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin, held in segregated and bankruptcy-remote accounts under the bank's custody. The transparency layer comes courtesy of Chainlink's Proof of Reserve system, which provides verifiable on-chain attestation that the reserves actually exist.
Circle didn't stumble into federal regulation overnight; it filed its application on June 30, 2025, received conditional approval in December 2025, and secured final OCC sign-off in July 2026. The company's regulatory credentials extend beyond the OCC charter, having secured a New York BitLicense and compliance under the EU's MiCA regulations.