Ripple has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate Ripple National Trust Bank, a federally chartered trust bank. The approval was granted on October 26 and concludes a process that began with Ripple’s application in July last year, according to the original report.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the development on X, writing that crypto and banks “work better together.” The final approval came less than a year after Ripple received conditional approval in December 2015.

Big news heading into @RippleSwell : the @USOCC has granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. This gives Ripple a federally supervised platform to support $RLUSD and provide digital asset custody to enterprises. We’ve always said crypto and banks work better… — Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 26, 2026

https://x.com/bgarlinghouse/status/2114860293859778775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

RLUSD reserves move under federal supervision

Ripple National Trust Bank will have a limited but significant role. According to Ripple’s announcement, the bank will hold the reserves backing Ripple USD (RLUSD) and serve as the collateral trustee for those reserves on behalf of RLUSD holders. It will also provide digital-asset custody for large institutional clients.

RLUSD issuance will remain with Standard Custody & Trust Company, Ripple’s limited-purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). As a result, two regulators will oversee separate parts of the stablecoin’s operations: New York will supervise issuance, while the OCC will supervise the reserves backing the token.

RLUSD is Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin and operates on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. Since launching in December 2024, it has reached a market capitalization of $2.5 billion. That remains a small share of the broader $310 billion stablecoin market. Data from Artemis shows that RLUSD represents about 0.8% of total stablecoin supply, while approximately 82% of the market remains dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.

For Ripple, the approval provides a regulatory distinction as it competes with larger and more established stablecoin issuers. As a relatively late entrant, the company has limited ways to attract corporate and bank treasuries away from dominant players. Federal oversight of its reserves is one such differentiator.

Trust charter carries clear limits

The approval does not give Ripple a commercial banking license. Ripple National Trust Bank will not be permitted to accept deposits or make loans, and, like most national trust banks, it will not have Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance.

The charter instead gives Ripple a federal supervisor for the part of the stablecoin business that institutions typically examine closely: whether the dollars backing a stablecoin exist and are held separately. Corporate treasurers and funds evaluating RLUSD against other dollar-denominated tokens can now point to a federally supervised reserve trustee.

Ripple joins Circle while Coinbase waits

Only a small number of crypto companies have reached this stage. Circle received final OCC approval in July, placing USDC reserves under federal supervision. Coinbase remains at the conditional-approval stage it reached in April, while Crypto.com and Stripe-owned Bridge have held the same status since February.

The expansion of these trust charters has drawn criticism in Washington. In May, Sen. Elizabeth Warren argued that the approvals violate the National Bank Act and pose risks to the financial system. The Digital Chamber, a crypto advocacy group, responded that trust charters cover only fiduciary activities and that the companies voluntarily chose federal oversight.

Federal Reserve master account remains pending

The OCC approval does not itself provide a direct price catalyst for XRP. Instead, it reflects Ripple’s broader effort to build regulated infrastructure after acquiring Standard Custody in mid-2024, launching RLUSD and adding prime brokerage services through Ripple Prime.

Ripple’s larger objective remains unresolved. Alongside its trust-charter application in July 2025, the company applied for a Federal Reserve master account. If approved, the account would allow Ripple to hold RLUSD reserves directly at the Federal Reserve and settle payments without relying on intermediary banks.

Crypto companies have historically faced difficulty obtaining master accounts. Custodia Bank spent years challenging the Federal Reserve over its application before ultimately being denied. Ripple enters the review with a final federal trust charter, a credential Custodia did not have. The master-account application remains pending.