San Francisco-based payment company Ripple is about to obtain a US banking license from the office of the Secretary of Currency (OCC).
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed his application for X’s National Bank Charter, shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported the development.
Dual monitoring of RLUSD
If approved, the National Bank’s Charter allows Ripple to bring Stablecoin (RLUSD) that won the dollar under full federal banking supervision.
The company obtained a state banking license for Stablecoin from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) last year. According to Garlinghouse, once OCC approves Ripple’s National Bank Charter application, the company will hold both federal and state licenses.
He emphasized that double surveillance will provide a new benchmark for confidence in the $250 billion Stablecoin market. This surveillance could signal the agency that RLUSD has a regulatory guardrail similar to that of Fiat currency regulatory guardrails.
More crypto companies are pursuing federal banking licenses
Until recently, regulatory restrictions made it nearly impossible for crypto companies to obtain the National Bank Charter. Currently, Anchorage Digital is one crypto company.
However, the industry expects the OCC to quickly approve more crypto-related applications, particularly under the agency’s next chair, Jonathan Gould. Like most officials in the Trump administration, Gould is also a cryptocurrency fan. Therefore, he is expected to support industry participants in the acquisition of the National Bank Charter.
That optimism has prompted several crypto companies, such as Fidelity Digital Assets and Circle, to apply for national banking licenses at the OCC.
Ripple applies to FREB Master accounts
Additionally, Garlinghouse confirmed that Ripple applied for a Master Federal Reserve account through standard custody of its subsidiary earlier this week.
Once the application is approved, RIPPLE can hold the reserves for RLUSD directly in the Fed. Ripple CEO emphasized that access provides an additional layer of security and trust for RLUSD.
Eleanor Terret, a well-known crypto journalist, proposed that obtaining a Fed Master account is more important than owning a bank charter. The banking lawyer told Terrett that the Fed Master Account is considered a diamond, but the National Bank’s Charter is equivalent to platinum.
In addition to applying for the OCC Trust Charter, @Ripple applied for the Fed Master account through the trust company (@StandardCustody) acquired last year.
…pic.twitter.com/lhqmmarglc has been granted
– Eleanorterrett (@Eleanorterrett) July 2, 2025
Prioritizing RLUSD Regulatory Compliance
In the meantime, Garlinghouse emphasized that RIPPLE will continue to build a reliable and secure infrastructure for its products, including RLUSD. He said RLUSD stands out in the $250 billion Stablecoin market due to its regulatory compliance prioritization.
Released in December 2024, RLUSD is currently ranked as the ninth largest Stablecoin, boasting a market capitalization of $469 million. That trading volume has skyrocketed 10.80% in the past day to $57.01 million.
