Coinbase gets NYDFS approval to offer crypto custody services; adds support for stablecoin for first time with ‘USDC’

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has approved leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to establish Coinbase Custody Trust Company.

The DFS, which has approved eleven charters or licenses for companies in the virtual currency marketplace so far, issued a virtual currency and money transmitter license to Coinbase in 2017. It said that it has also approved Coinbase Trust to offer secure custody services for six cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ether Classic (ETC), Ripple (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC).

Coinbase Custody Trust Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coinbase, has been approved to operate as a limited purpose trust company.

“The New York State Limited Purpose Trust charter, which now enables Coinbase Custody to act as a Qualified Custodian for crypto assets, builds on our unparalleled success as a crypto custodian while holding the company to the same exacting fiduciary standards and oversight of other, mature financial institutions operating in New York,” Asiff Hirji, President and COO of Coinbase, said.

Coinbase Adds Support for Stablecoin ‘USDC’

Coinbase on Tuesday announced that it is going to support a stablecoin for the first time. It has added support for USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar launched recently by Circle in collaboration with CENTRE.

“Starting today, Coinbase customers in supported jurisdictions can buy, sell, send and receive the USD Coin stablecoin (USDC) at Coinbase.com and in the Coinbase iOS and Android apps. US customers outside New York state can buy and sell, and customers around the world can send and receive,” Coinbase said.

It added that USDC’s underlying technology was developed collaboratively between Coinbase and Circle, in their capacity as partners and co-founders of the new CENTRE Consortium.

“USDC will be coming to Coinbase Pro in the coming weeks, and is already supported on Coinbase Wallet, a user-controlled wallet where people can store ERC20 tokens,” it said.