Ripple wins final OCC approval for national trust bank, putting RLUSD reserves under federal oversight

27 Oct 2026

27 Oct 2026, 06:13 UTC+01:00

Regulation TradeReviewed News Desk

Ripple now has a federally chartered bank. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the US regulator that supervises national banks, has approved Ripple National Trust Bank (RNTB), Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on X late Monday, according to CoinDesk. The Block also reported the final approval.

The decision closes a process that started in July 2025, when Ripple applied for the charter. The OCC granted conditional approval in December 2025 and has now signed off fully.

What the trust bank will do

According to CoinDesk, RNTB will manage the reserves that back Ripple’s dollar stablecoin RLUSD and act as trustee for those reserves. It will also offer regulated custody services, holding digital assets for institutional clients that use crypto in payments, trading and treasury management.

RLUSD itself will still be issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, Ripple’s New York-regulated unit. The result is a split structure: issuance stays under New York state supervision, while reserve management and custody move under federal supervision. In practice, RLUSD now has both state and federal regulators watching different parts of its setup.

RLUSD at a glance

RLUSD launched in December 2024 and has grown to a market value of about $2.5 billion, which CoinDesk says puts it among the top 50 stablecoins worldwide. It is backed by US dollar deposits, US government securities and other cash-like assets, with BNY holding most of the reserves. Ripple uses it in its payments business and as collateral on Ripple Prime.

Ripple said it will keep working with the OCC, New York regulators and others as the bank begins operating, particularly as US stablecoin rules under the GENIUS Act roll out. The OCC finalized its first GENIUS Act rule last week, with the law taking effect on January 18, 2027.

Why it matters

A national trust charter pulls one of crypto’s largest companies further into the traditional regulated system. That fits Garlinghouse’s long-running argument that crypto firms should build products banks and large institutions can actually use. Federal supervision of reserves and custody is the kind of assurance institutional treasurers and payment firms tend to ask for before holding a stablecoin in size.

Not everyone sees a direct win for token holders. A BeInCrypto analysis published Tuesday argued that the main beneficiaries of the charter are RLUSD and Ripple’s institutional business, and that XRP holders may be last in line, since the bank’s role centers on the stablecoin’s reserves rather than on XRP.

What it means for traders

For traders, the near-term angle is RLUSD’s credibility as a dollar stablecoin with federal oversight of its reserves, which could help its listing and liquidity on more venues. For XRP, the charter is a regulatory milestone for the company, not a change to the token’s supply or utility, so any price reaction is sentiment rather than fundamentals. As always, check where a stablecoin or XRP pair is listed and how deep the order book is before trading size.

To see which exchanges list XRP and stablecoin pairs with the lowest fees, use our exchange comparison, or read our BingX review and OKX review. Our how we test page explains the scoring. This is not financial advice.

Related reviews

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• Okx review

Sources

• CoinDesk: Ripple gets a final go-ahead to launch its own U.S. national trust bank
• The Block: Ripple gains final OCC approval to launch national trust bank and bring RLUSD under federal oversight
• BeInCrypto: Who Gains From Ripple's New Bank Charter? XRP Holders May Be Last in Line

News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news