Ripple wins federal approval to run a national trust bank
Regulation & Gov ·
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted Ripple final approval to operate a national trust bank, placing the company's RLUSD stablecoin under federal supervision.
Ripple now holds full OCC approval, joining Circle, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Assets among firms cleared to run a national trust bank charter, according to a post from Eleanor Terrett on X. The charter gives Ripple a federally supervised structure through which to support RLUSD and offer digital asset custody services to enterprise clients.
The approval was disclosed publicly just ahead of RippleSwell, timing that underscored its significance for the company. Ripple's chief executive, Brad Garlinghouse, said the OCC had issued final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, framing the move as evidence that crypto and banking function better in tandem. He described the development as representing real innovation paired with real accountability and federal oversight, adding that change in the industry is coming from within the regulated system rather than outside it.
A separate report from The Block confirmed the final OCC sign-off, noting that it brings RLUSD's reserves and custody arrangements under federal management rather than a patchwork of state-level oversight. That detail reinforces the core mechanic of the approval: a national trust charter allows Ripple to centralize stablecoin reserve handling and custody functions under one federal regulator instead of multiple state trust charters.
The cluster around this news currently includes two distinct sources, both pointing to the same core fact — final OCC approval — while emphasizing slightly different angles, one stressing the competitive context of other approved firms and the other focusing on the stablecoin reserve implications.
Not yet detailed is how quickly Ripple will transition existing RLUSD custody and reserve operations onto the new federal charter, what specific compliance obligations accompany national trust bank status, or whether additional enterprise custody clients will be announced in connection with the charter. How the approval affects Ripple's operations outside the stablecoin business also remains unspecified.