On the heels of significant progress in its protracted legal battle, Ripple, the blockchain-based payments firm closely associated with the XRP cryptocurrency, confirmed Wednesday that it has filed an application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)for a national banking license.
The license would allow the company to potentially act as a custodian for its own reserves under federal banking regulations amid President Donald Trump’s explicitly crypto-friendly administration.
Ripple’s application follows a similar move by Circle, signaling a trend among stablecoin issuers seeking federal oversight as U.S. legislation to regulate stablecoins and crypto market structure advances.
Ripple submitted its application to the OCC on Wednesday (July 2).
The company’s chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse shared the news on the X (formerly known as Twitter) social media platform, following a report from the Wall Street Journal.
“True to our long-standing compliance roots, Ripple is applying for a national bank charter from the OCC,” he stated. “If approved, we would have both state (via NYDFS) and federal oversight, a new (and unique!) benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market.”
The license would allow Ripple to extend its cryptocurrency services and operate across state lines under federal laws. Ripple is the issuer of the $440 million dollar-pegged RLUSD stablecoin regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Earlier this week, Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Company applied for a Federal Reserve master account, as Garlinghouse noted, which would allow the firm to hold RLUSD’s dollar reserves directly with the US central bank — boosting security and transparency.
Ripple’s move comes just two days after its rival stablecoin issuer Circle confirmed its own application to secure a national bank charter. Anchorage Digital is the only crypto company with such a bank charter.
Stablecoin issuers are seeking bank charters partly due to expected regulatory demands under the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation that recently passed the Senate — and which President Trump urged the House to pass “LIGHTNING FAST” so that he can sign it into law.
If Ripple indeed secures the national trust bank charter, The Wall Street Journal suggested that the San Francisco-based firm would likely offer additional crypto-related services in the future.
XRP was priced at $2.26 as of press time, reflecting a 4.2% gain on the day.
