Will Coinbase Swing the Pendulum of Finance or Just Joke Around? 🤔

by

In the hinterlands of modern finance, Coinbase emerges yet again with its skirts tied tightly, much like a petite maiden attempting to waltz in the ballroom of traditional bankers. Behold, the U.S.’s most illustrious crypto exchange has penned a missive to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), beseeching them for a National Trust Company Charter.

Draped in polished manners and holding a delicate teacup, Coinbase emphatically assures us-they have “no intention of becoming a bank,” utterly serious in their claim, as serious as a man wearing his grandmother’s bonnet on a Sunday stroll.

What, Pray Tell, Does This Charter Confer?

Not unlike the fur coats that grace the wintered shoulders of convivial grandmothers, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill banking license. My dear readers, a national trust charter does not endow its bearer with lending flaps nor depositing abilities, nor can it promise the sanctuary of FDIC insurance.

Instead, much like a prudent dowager managing offsprings of china and copper, it offers the power to safeguard assets, prudently maintain stablecoin reserves, and most importantly, settle payments. At the helm, Greg Tusar, Coinbase’s VP of institutional product, proclaimed this charter could ostensibly streamline oversight for new offerings, weaving a colorful tapestry to integrate digital assets into traditional finance.

Indeed, Coinbase’s adventure seeks not the transformer’s fire that would metamorphose it into a bank, but rather, is akin to a genteel lady attending balls out of duty-seeking credentials and the elusive clarity of regulation.

Payments and Stablecoins: The Heart and Soul

Coinbase, with the stoicism of a chess master contemplating his board, shifts its gaze firmly towards payments, much as one would admire the rapid ascendancy of stablecoins. In an alliance as close-knit as the Wilcox sisters, Coinbase parleys with USDC, managed beautifully with Circle’s expertise.

USDC, much like a debutante at her first season, revels in its newfound status as the second-largest stablecoin. Deals brokered with such esteemed names as Shopify, PNC, and JPMorgan have vaulted adoption forward more assuredly than any high society debut. The political winds, fervent in July, played their part by releasing the first U.S. law governing these dollar-pegged stablecoins, a tune to which Coinbase danced to, its movements poised for expansion under these clear federal sonnets.

A Sparkling Rendezvous of Applicants

As if pulled by an unseen carriage, Coinbase is in illustrious company-Circle, Ripple, Paxos, and Bitgo have all made their debut with applications for this coveted license. Yet, only Anchorage Digital, a singular beacon, has successfully embraced such honor. The bank nobilities stand aghast, much akin to a mama bear witnessing her porridge overturned.

“Granting deposit-like powers under a trust charter unfairly tilts the playing field and sidesteps Congress,” lamented Mickey Marshall of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a proclamation as timeless as a folkloric dirge.

Coinbase’s Grand Scheme

With audacious elegance, Coinbase, bearing $425 billion in assets under custody and its stock inflating by 53% this year to a dazzling $380, boasts the stature of the grandest crypto custodian in the market. The federal trust charter may yet reinforce its regal bearings and cut loose its ties to partner banks, much like a swan shedding its shackled feathers to soar.

New @edge_pod

What’s Next For @Base, According To A Base Builder

0:00 – Intro
6:46 – State of Base and Coinbase’s vision
13:43 – Implications of a Base token
16:11 – Future of content creation on Base
22:54 – Coinbase’s pursuing a banking charter
27:03 – Coinbase’s DeFi…

– DeFi Dad âź  defidad.eth (@DeFi_Dad) October 3, 2025

CEO Brian Armstrong, speaking at a recent gathering reminiscent of one organized by the ladies of high society, declared Coinbase a “bank replacement,” humorously dodging the mantle of a conventional bank.

At this very esteemed event, he ventured forth: “They’re coming to Coinbase when they want crypto custody, trading, payments, staking, financing on-chain.”

Why Does This Matter, Dear Reader?

The OCC’s ponderous decision on Coinbase’s application will be etched in grandly high relief across the realm of the industry, worth more than the most gilded parlor wall. Should glory favor Coinbase, it will be not merely a victory for the exchange but could very well pen the prologue to an entirely new chapter in the annals of stablecoins and digital assets, thereby affecting the U.S. financial system for many years hence.

Read More

2025-10-04 12:11