Crypto Firms Circle and BitGo Have Taken Action to Obtain Banking Licenses in the USA! What Does This Mean? Here Are the Details

According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, several leading cryptocurrency firms, including Circle and BitGo, are preparing to apply for banking licenses or similar financial regulatory approvals in the U.S.

This move indicates that the sector has made a joint effort to establish stronger ties with the US banking system after years of increasing regulatory scrutiny.

Access to traditional financial infrastructure for the crypto industry has been severely hindered since the collapse of FTX at the end of 2022, triggering widespread market panic and regulatory pressures.

The subsequent closure of crypto-friendly banks such as SilverGate.io Bank and Signature Bank further isolated digital asset companies from traditional financial services.

Since then, many crypto firms have faced difficulties in finding reliable banking partners, limiting their ability to operate efficiently in the U.S. market. Regulatory pressure has intensified due to concerns over financial stability, fraud prevention, and systemic risk.

The issuer of the USDC stablecoin, Circle, and companies like digital asset custody firm BitGo are seeking official licenses to legitimize their operations and aim to increase trust among regulators, institutional clients, and the wider public.

Obtaining a banking license will potentially allow these firms to do the following:

Direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment pathways,

Providing regulated custody and transaction services,

Expanding stablecoin issuance and integration with the fiat system,

To comply more effectively with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations.

Industry experts say this change is part of a larger trend of convergence between crypto and traditional finance as companies adopt oversight as a way to survive and grow in the long term, moving away from operating outside the regulatory environment.

Although licensing can take months or even years, applications represent an important turning point in the strategy to rebuild the credibility of the crypto sector and re-enter the financial mainstream.