According to the company, Ripple has received final approval from the Federal Reserve Board of the United States (OCC) to establish Ripple National Trust Bank, which is a federally regulated national trust bank.
This approval completes a process that began in December 2025. At that time, OCC conditionally approved the application of Ripple; during the same period, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, and BitGo also received conditional approvals.
Ripple indicates that after the bank begins operations, it will manage and support the isolated reserves of the RLUSD stablecoin as the custodian of these reserves, to benefit the holders of RLUSD. The RLUSD stablecoin will still be issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, with the latter being a limited-purpose trust company under Ripple that is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Therefore, this stablecoin will now be subject to both state and federal regulation.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated in a declaration: "For many years, we have said that cryptocurrencies and the banking industry will work better together. The final approval from Ripple National Trust Bank is a practical manifestation of this." He added in a tweet: "Revolutions do not occur outside of the system; they occur within it."
Garlinghouse wrote on X: "On the eve of the @ RippleSwell conference, there is significant news: @ USOCC has approved the final establishment of Ripple National Trust Bank. This will provide a federally regulated platform for Ripple to support $ RLUSD and offer digital asset custody to enterprises. We have always said that cryptocurrencies and the banking industry will work better together..."
RLUSD was launched in December 2024. According to CoinGecko data, its market value is approximately 2.6 billion US dollars. Ripple indicates that this stablecoin is used in its payment network and also serves as collateral in the Ripple Prime brokerage business. BNY is the main reserve custodian for this stablecoin.
The cryptocurrency XRP, which is closely related to Ripple, has risen by 0.5% in the past 24 hours to reach $1.29. According to CoinGecko data, among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market value, only XRP and Zcash recorded gains on that day.
The Competition for Cryptocurrency Banking Licenses
There is still controversy over the national trust licenses issued by OCC to cryptocurrency companies. Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, Massachusetts) stated in a letter to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Jonathan Gould, that the approvals granted to companies including Coinbase and Ripple violated the National Bank Act.
She wrote, "These companies are essentially trying to become crypto-banks that avoid the basic safeguards and obligations that banks are supposed to fulfill."
The lobbying organization in the crypto industry, Digital Chamber, urges OCC to “defend these license approvals and continue to set clear regulatory expectations for trust banks.”
Earlier this month, the Independent Community Bankers of America filed a lawsuit against OCC in federal court, claiming that these licenses have become a "backdoor for crypto companies to enter the banking system," allowing them to bypass the capital requirements, comprehensive regulations, and FDIC insurance imposed on traditional banks.
Ripple indicates that as banks begin operations and the United States implements the stablecoin framework of the GENIUS Act, the company will continue to cooperate with OCC, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and other regulatory authorities.
