San Francisco-based payments company Ripple is seeking to obtain a U.S. banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed the application for a national bank charter on X shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported the development.
Dual Oversight for RLUSD
If approved, the national bank charter will enable Ripple to bring its dollar-pegged stablecoin (RLUSD) under full federal banking supervision.
The company obtained a state banking license for its stablecoin from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) last year. According to Garlinghouse, once the OCC approves Ripple’s national bank charter application, the company would hold both federal and state licenses.
He emphasized that the dual oversight will provide a new benchmark for trust in the $250 billion stablecoin market. This oversight could signal to institutions that RLUSD has similar regulatory guardrails to those of fiat currencies.
More Crypto Companies Pursue Federal Banking Licenses
Until recently, obtaining a U.S. national bank charter was nearly impossible for crypto companies due to regulatory restrictions. Currently, Anchorage Digital is the only crypto firm with one.
However, the industry expects the OCC to approve more crypto-related applications soon, particularly under the agency’s incoming chair, Jonathan Gould. Like most officials in the Trump administration, Gould is also a fan of cryptocurrency. Thus, he is expected to support industry participants in obtaining a national bank charter.
That optimism has prompted several crypto firms, such as Fidelity Digital Assets and Circle, to also apply for national banking licenses with the OCC.
Ripple Applies for Fed Master Account
Furthermore, Garlinghouse confirmed that Ripple applied for a Federal Reserve master account through its subsidiary Standard Custody earlier this week.
Approving the application will allow Ripple to hold the reserve deposits of RLUSD directly at the Fed. The Ripple CEO emphasized that the access will provide RLUSD with an additional layer of security and trust.
Prominent crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett suggested that obtaining a Fed master account is more significant than owning a bank charter. A banking lawyer informed Terrett that while a Fed master account is considered Diamond, a national bank charter is equivalent to Platinum.
In addition to applying for an OCC trust charter, @Ripple has also applied for a Fed master account through the trust company it acquired last year — @StandardCustody — which I reported Monday (see below — although I admittedly missed the Ripple connection 😬).
Being granted a… pic.twitter.com/LHQMMARGlC
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) July 2, 2025
RLUSD Prioritizing Regulatory Compliance
In the meantime, Garlinghouse stressed that Ripple will continue to build trusted and secure infrastructure for its products, including RLUSD. According to him, RLUSD stands out in the $250 billion stablecoin market due to its prioritization of regulatory compliance.
RLUSD, which launched in December 2024, currently ranks as the ninth-largest stablecoin, boasting a market capitalization of $469 million. Its trading volume surged 10.80% in the past day to $57.01 million.
