🚨 BREAKING: Circle Files for National Trust Bank License in the U.S. 🚨
Circle—the issuer behind $USDC and fresh off an $18B IPO—has officially applied for a national trust bank license with the OCC! If approved, Circle will form First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., becoming only the second crypto-native company after Anchorage to hold such a license.
💼 What does this mean?
• Circle will custody its own reserves and offer tokenized asset custody to institutional players.
• Focus is shifting toward tokenized traditional finance (stocks, bonds) over crypto-native assets like $BTC or $ETH .
• While they won’t take deposits or offer loans, Circle is building the backbone for regulated on-chain finance.
🔥 Market Impact?
✅ Bullish long-term signal for Bitcoin & altcoins: regulatory clarity = institutional confidence.
✅ Tokenization narrative grows: Altcoins tied to RWAs (real-world assets) could benefit.
⚠️ But short-term, this doesn’t mean big flows into BTC/ETH just yet—Circle is targeting TradFi first.
💬 This is a major infrastructure play. The rails for on-chain finance are being built... slowly but surely. The question is: Who’s ready when the institutions arrive?
