Ripple says OCC finalized national trust bank charter

Ripple said on Oct. 26 that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had given final approval to Ripple National Trust Bank, completing a process that began with conditional approval in December 2025. The company says the charter will bring federal supervision to management of RLUSD’s reserves, but the stablecoin will still be issued by its New York-regulated affiliate, Standard Custody & Trust Company. The announcement from Ripple describes the decision; The Block also reported it, citing Ripple’s announcement and CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

The structure divides the work. Ripple says the national trust bank is authorized to manage the segregated reserves backing RLUSD, act as their collateral trustee for holders, and provide fiduciary digital-asset custody. Standard Custody & Trust Company, a New York Department of Financial Services-regulated limited-purpose trust company, remains the issuer. BNY remains RLUSD’s primary reserve custodian, according to Ripple, so the bank charter adds a federal supervisory layer without replacing the issuer or reserve custodian.

What does the federal charter add to RLUSD’s existing oversight?

It adds OCC supervision of the trust bank’s approved activities to the state-level oversight already attached to RLUSD’s issuer. Ripple’s December 2025 conditional approval was one of five trust-bank charter decisions announced by the OCC: First National Digital Currency Bank and Ripple were approved to establish new banks, while BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos received approval to convert state trust companies. The final step now reported by Ripple moves its application beyond that conditional stage.

The distinction matters because a national trust bank is not a full-service commercial bank. The Block reports that this charter does not permit deposit-taking or lending. Ripple’s stated authority instead focuses on reserve management, collateral trusteeship and fiduciary custody. That narrower remit offers a federal framework for institutional services, but it does not give RLUSD a new issuer or turn the trust bank into a conventional retail bank.

How does Ripple’s move compare with other crypto firms?

Ripple joins Circle in reaching final OCC approval, according to The Block, which reported Circle’s approval in July. Other crypto firms named in the report, including Coinbase and Crypto.com, remained at the conditional-approval stage. The comparison shows why the status matters: conditional approval is an intermediate step, while Ripple says its organization process is complete. The charter’s limited scope also sets it apart from a full-service bank license, even as it places more of Ripple’s stablecoin infrastructure under federal supervision.

RLUSD launched in December 2024 and had a $2.5 billion market capitalization at the time of Ripple’s announcement, which said the token was used in Ripple’s payments infrastructure and as collateral within Ripple Prime. Ripple also said the stablecoin is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, government securities and other cash equivalents, with monthly independent third-party attestations. Those are company-reported figures and descriptions; the charter itself does not change RLUSD’s issuance arrangement.

What remains to be confirmed as the bank begins work?

Ripple said it would continue working with the OCC, NYDFS and other regulators as the bank begins operations, but its announcement gave no opening date. The next signals are when RNTB starts operating, how the federal oversight is reflected in its reserve-management and custody work, and whether Ripple publishes further details about the bank’s launch. For RLUSD holders, the key structural point to watch is whether issuance stays with Standard Custody & Trust Company as Ripple described, while the new trust bank takes on its approved federal role.

Sources and documents

• announcement from Ripple — ripple.com