Circle National Trust launches regulated custody for cirBTC
- —OCC granted final approval on July 10, 2026; the bank opened on July 24
- —cirBTC is an ERC-20 token backed 1:1 by native BTC in segregated accounts
- —Reserves are verified on-chain through Chainlink Proof of Reserve
- —The bank takes no deposits and issues no loans, acting solely as a qualified custodian
Why it matters: A federally regulated custodian reduces counterparty risk for wrapped Bitcoin and gives institutions DeFi access without selling BTC.
Source: Crypto Briefing