From Coinpedia · By Anjali Belgaumkar
Ripple has won final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for Ripple National Trust Bank. That raises a question XRP holders care about: what does a federal charter built around a stablecoin mean for XRP itself?
The short answer is that the charter mainly helps RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, and any benefit for XRP will come indirectly. On-chain data shows large holders building positions anyway, even though XRP is stuck near $1.32.
What The Charter Actually Covers
The OCC approved Ripple National Trust Bank on October 26, completing a process that began with conditional approval in December 2025. According to Ripple, the bank is cleared to:
Manage the segregated reserves backing RLUSD
Act as collateral trustee for those reserves on behalf of RLUSD holders
Provide fiduciary custody of digital assets for businesses
The bank will not become a regular commercial lender. It will not take insured deposits or make standard loans. Its role is limited to managing reserves, holding assets in trust and offering custody.
How RLUSD Is Structured
Responsibilities for RLUSD are now split across several regulated parties:
Issuer: Standard Custody & Trust Company, Ripple’s limited-purpose trust company in New York, supervised by the state’s Department of Financial Services
Reserve manager and trustee: Ripple National Trust Bank, under federal OCC supervision
Primary reserve custodian: BNY
Transparency: independent attestations published every month
RLUSD launched in December 2024 and has grown to about $2.5 billion in market value. Its reserves are held in US dollar deposits, short-term government securities and other cash equivalents. It is already used in Ripple’s payment network and as collateral on Ripple Prime.
Ripple’s Message
CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the approval shows what “crypto and banks work better together” means in practice. He said it gives Ripple a stronger base for RLUSD and for its products across payments, custody and capital markets.
So How Does XRP Benefit?
The charter does not cover XRP directly. Its effect on the token is likely to come through three indirect channels:
A more trusted RLUSD. Institutions often require stablecoin reserves to sit with a regulated custodian. Federal supervision makes RLUSD easier for banks and corporate treasuries to approve. Much of RLUSD’s trading and settlement happens on the XRP Ledger, so more RLUSD activity could mean more XRP Ledger use, where XRP pays transaction fees and can link trading pairs.
Federally supervised custody. The trust bank can hold digital assets for businesses. If it offers XRP custody, that would give institutions a federally regulated way to hold the token.