Ripple Seeks US National Bank Charter Just Days After Circle

Crypto payments firm Ripple confirmed Wednesday that it has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to obtain a national bank charter. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared the news via X on Wednesday, 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 wrote. “If approved, we would have both state (via NYDFS) and federal oversight, a new (and unique!) benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market.”

Ripple’s move comes just two days after USDC stablecoin issuer Circle confirmed its own application to secure a national bank charter. Anchorage Digital is the only digital assets firm to currently hold such a charter. Ripple is closely linked to XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocy by market cap, which was created by the firm’s founders. More recently, Ripple itself has launched RLUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin.

RLUSD currently has a market cap of $469 million—substantially less than the longer-running market leader Tether (USDT) at nearly $158 billion, and Circle’s USDC at nearly $62 billion. Stablecoin issuers are seeking bank charters in part due to expected regulatory demands under the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation that recently passed the Senate—and which President Trump said he’d like to see pass the House and reach his desk as soon as possible.

The Wall Street Journal said Ripple would consider offering additional crypto-related services in the future if it indeed secures the charter. Garlinghouse said that Ripple’s Standard Custody subsidiary also filed for a Federal Reserve master account this week. That would allow it to hold RLUSD reserves with the Fed, and give it more flexibility to process its digital assets.

Terron Gold