Catenaa, Tuesday, April 22, 2025-Crypto firms Circle and BitGo are preparing to apply for US bank charters or licenses as stablecoin regulation looms, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Monday. Coinbase and Paxos are also weighing similar steps, sources told the newspaper.
The move comes as Congress considers legislation that would require stablecoin issuers to hold formal banking licenses. While some companies are pursuing narrow licenses focused on stablecoin issuance, such a shift would subject them to heightened regulatory scrutiny.
“Perhaps the future is that crypto will fully recreate normal banking, including bank regulation,” Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine noted in response to the developments.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is reportedly at the center of a legislative standoff. Traditional banks, including Bank of America, are lobbying to tighten rules that would limit nonbanks’ ability to issue stablecoins, according to reporting by The Block.
The push for charters highlights longstanding challenges crypto firms face in accessing traditional financial infrastructure. In 2024, Custodia Bank was denied access to a Federal Reserve master account despite prolonged efforts — a decision that effectively barred it from direct interaction with the US money supply.
While the crypto sector has largely operated outside the conventional banking framework, increasing policy momentum is drawing the industry closer to formal financial oversight.
If successful, the charter applications could reshape how crypto-native firms interact with the US regulatory and banking systems.
