Circle secures New York limited-purpose trust charter

The OCC's record draws the line between current status and plan: "Today, USDC is issued by Circle Internet Financial, LLC," under money-transmitter licenses and similar authorizations. The same record says Circle plans to transition responsibility for issuing USDC to the New York trust company once it is established.

The NYDFS directory records the charter month, not the approval day, and separately lists Circle Internet Financial's New York virtual-currency and money-transmitter licenses from September 2015. Circle said on July 10 that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had approved a national trust bank to operate as Circle National Trust. NYDFS says a limited-purpose trust company may conduct virtual-currency business with the superintendent's approval.

The charter gives Circle a state-regulated vehicle for the next phase of its USDC plan. The next milestones are opening the entity and deciding whether issuance, reserve management or custody responsibilities move into it. Any effect on Circle's costs, revenue or balance-sheet responsibilities would depend on those operational steps.