Ripple says it has received final OCC approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The new bank will manage the reserves of the RLUSD stablecoin, which as a result also come under federal oversight.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is a US federal agency. It charters and supervises national banks and trust banks. A national trust charter permits fiduciary business and custody, but neither deposit-taking nor lending. Ripple builds payment and crypto infrastructure for institutions and stands behind RLUSD, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. The token launched in December 2024. Its issuer is Standard Custody & Trust Company, a trust company regulated by New York's financial regulator, NYDFS. Ripple applied for the federal charter in July 2025, and conditional approval initially followed in December 2025. According to Ripple, RLUSD's market capitalization now stands at around USD 2.5 billion. The company uses the stablecoin in its own payment flows and also as collateral on Ripple Prime. Ripple has not yet named an opening date for the bank.
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What Ripple National Trust Bank will be allowed to do
In late October 2026, Ripple announced the final approval. CEO Brad Garlinghouse also shared the news on X. Ripple National Trust Bank, or RNTB, will take over management of the segregated RLUSD reserves. These funds sit apart from other assets and back the stablecoin. Furthermore, RNTB will act as collateral trustee, meaning it holds the reserves in trust for RLUSD holders. Once open, the bank is also set to hold digital assets in fiduciary custody. This function is not tied to RLUSD and covers digital assets in general.
Issuance of RLUSD, however, remains with Standard Custody & Trust Company (SCTC), Ripple's limited-purpose trust company in New York. As a result, RNTB does not issue the stablecoin itself. In this way, Ripple separates token issuance organizationally from the management of its reserves. At the same time, the charter sets tight limits. As with any national trust bank, deposits and loans remain off the table. The approval is therefore not equivalent to a full banking license. The mandate covers only fiduciary services and custody, but in those areas it is subject to federal oversight.
RLUSD comes under dual supervision
Until now, RLUSD fell under the supervision of New York State. The responsible body there is NYDFS, the state's financial regulator, which oversees trust companies among other entities. The national charter now adds OCC federal oversight, which covers reserve management and custody. NYDFS continues to supervise the issuer, SCTC. Consequently, two supervisors will review different parts of the same structure.
US dollar deposits, US Treasuries and other cash equivalents back RLUSD. BNY holds most of the reserves. In addition, Ripple publishes monthly attestations by independent third parties on circulation and reserves. However, the charter does not bring FDIC deposit insurance. After all, trust banks do not take deposits. For holders, the charter adds oversight of reserves and custody, yet no government guarantee.
Ripple plans to keep working with the OCC, NYDFS and other agencies as RNTB begins operations. Meanwhile, the US is implementing the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law. The federal charter arrives at a time when Washington is still setting the rules for issuers. Garlinghouse sees the charter as a foundation for the company's institutional business.
"For years, we've said crypto and banks work better together. Final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank is what that looks like in practice. We've spent over a decade building regulated financial infrastructure that institutions can actually use at scale. A national trust charter gives us an even stronger foundation for RLUSD and the institutional products we're building across payments, custody and capital markets." - Brad Garlinghouse, CEO, Ripple
Ripple follows Circle to final OCC approval
The process ran in two stages. In December 2025, the OCC conditionally approved five charter applications at once: Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos. With Fidelity Digital Assets, the group also included the crypto arm of an established asset manager. Ripple received its conditional approval about five months after its July 2025 application. Finally, another 10.5 months passed before final approval. Overall, the path to the charter took just under 16 months.
Circle got there comparatively faster. The USDC issuer received final approval for its First National Digital Currency Bank back in July 2026. That was a good three months before Ripple. Since then, the USDC reserves have been under federal oversight. BitGo now also reports final approval, after receiving conditional approval in December 2025 just like Ripple. Later, more applicants joined: Coinbase, Crypto.com and World Liberty Financial each received conditional approvals in 2026.
After Circle, Ripple now also holds a final national trust charter. For both firms, the OCC therefore supervises the reserves of their respective dollar stablecoins. Ripple National Trust Bank is not the issuer, though. New York-based SCTC, under NYDFS supervision, continues to issue RLUSD. Whether other stablecoin issuers follow ultimately depends on the pending proceedings of the remaining applicants.
Warren and the Digital Chamber clash over the charters
National trust charters remain politically contested. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes the wave of OCC approvals for crypto firms as a violation of the National Bank Act. This federal law governs the chartering of national banks in the US. The Democrat argues that the approvals also pose risks to the financial system. Her criticism thus targets the agency's chartering practice.
The Digital Chamber, a crypto industry trade group, disagrees. In its view, trust charters are limited to fiduciary and fiduciary-related activities, and the firms submit to federal oversight voluntarily. Regardless of this debate, RNTB as a trust bank may neither accept deposits nor make loans. With the charter, Ripple also accepts a second layer of supervision. Issuing RLUSD in New York did not require it. Still, the bank's launch date remains open for now. Likewise, the implementation of the GENIUS Act, which sets the federal framework for stablecoin issuers, is still underway.
