On July 2, 2025, Ripple Labs reportedly filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) seeking a national trust bank charter, according to secondary sources such as CoinDesk and Cointelegraph. As of now, this filing has not been confirmed through OCC's public records. If substantiated, this would mark a significant move by the blockchain payments company to align itself with traditional banking oversight frameworks.¹
This strategic initiative represents far more than just regulatory compliance. It shows Ripple's commitment to help establish a new standard for institutional trust in the stablecoin market. The application comes as the entire crypto industry strives to mature away from speculative trading toward providing practical financial infrastructure solutions.
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Banking Charter Framework
Ripple's national banking license would grant the company authority to operate across state lines under unified federal oversight. The OCC charter covers a broad range of services including trust banking services. The ability to offer these trust services would enable Ripple to expand its digital asset offerings by acting as a fiduciary on behalf of their clients in addition to being a deposit taking bank.
Ripple has announced the RLUSD stablecoin and expressed intent to comply with regulatory standards, but as of now, it is not listed under the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) as a supervised stablecoin.
The federal charter would combine state-level oversight federal banking standards to create an unprecedented dual regulatory framework. This structure would establish what CEO Brad Garlinghouse describes as a "unique benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market."²
Ripple's application follows a similar move by a smaller stablecoin issuer. This coordinated approach suggests that major stablecoin providers understand the value of federal banking regulation as the legislative landscape changes.
The regulatory review process typically spans several months. It requires comprehensive documentation of all operational procedures, internal risk management protocols, and compliance frameworks. The OCC evaluates applications on a number of metrics including their ability to maintain adequate capital reserves, the quality of their management expertise and the applicant’s ability to serve community banking needs.
Fed Window Access
Ripple has pursued direct access to the Federal Reserve system through its Standard Custody subsidiary in parallel to its banking charter application. The company applied for a Fed master account. This would enable direct reserve management with the central bank.¹
Master account access would allow Ripple to keep RLUSD stablecoin reserves directly with the Federal Reserve. This would eliminate onerous intermediary banking relationships they currently utilize for reserve management. The arrangement would also provide additional security layers for stablecoin backing while letting Ripple streamline their operational procedures.
Federal Reserve master accounts operate under a tiered evaluation system. Banks supervised by the OCC receive Tier 2 status, requiring more extensive review than Fed-regulated institutions but maintaining higher approval prospects than state-supervised entities. This tiering explains why Ripple is pursuing both federal banking status and central bank access in parallel.
The master account application is a huge step toward institutional legitimacy. Traditional crypto firms like Kraken and Custodia Bank have pursued similar arrangements without success.
Business Transformation Implications
Getting federal bank status would turbocharge Ripple's operational capabilities. The banking charter enables cross-jurisdictional service provision while maintaining consistent regulatory standards across markets. This flexibility matches up nicely with Ripple's global payment network expansion. It also allows them to reduce their operational and compliance expenditure over time as they can operate within a single framework instead of piecemeal across different jurisdictions.
The enhanced regulatory framework positions RLUSD as a digital dollar alternative. Federal oversight provides the compliance foundation necessary for large-scale institutional adoption. Even traditional financial institutions that require stringent regulatory approval for digital asset engagement would be satisfied.
Approval of their banking charter would enable Ripple to offer expanded financial services beyond its current payment-focused business model. They could begin to offer trust banking capabilities. These could diversify revenue streams for Ripple in addition to deepening their institutional relationships.
Regulatory Environment
Ripple's banking applications benefit from a newly favorable regulatory climate. The passage of the GENIUS Act will help create federal frameworks for stablecoin regulation. The new SEC leadership under Paul Atkins has signaled they will be more crypto-friendly in their approach to oversight.³
This regulatory push could help change blockchain and ledger implementation from an experimental technology into a component of major financial infrastructure. Ripple's proactive engagement with federal banking oversight will help establish precedents for future crypto-banking integration.
1 Krisztian Sandor, "Ripple Applies for Federal Bank Trust Charter, XRP Jumps 3%," CoinDesk, July 2, 2025, https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/07/02/ripple-applies-for-federal-bank-trust-charter-xrp-jumps-3.
2 "Ripple applies for US banking license, joining crypto rush for legitimacy," Cointelegraph, July 4, 2025, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-applies-us-banking-license-joining-circle.
3 "XRP News Today: Ripple CEO to Testify Before Senate on July 9 2025 as SEC Shifts Stance on Crypto," AiInvest, July 9, 2025, https://www.ainvest.com/news/xrp-news-today-ripple-ceo-testify-senate-july-9-2025-sec-shifts-stance-crypto-2507/.
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