Ripple Clears Final OCC Hurdle for National Trust Bank

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on X that the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The decision gives the company a federally supervised platform for its RLUSD stablecoin and for custody of digital assets held by enterprises.

Garlinghouse called it big news heading into Ripple's Swell event and presented it as proof that crypto firms and banks work better together. "The revolution isn't happening outside the system. It's happening from within it," the executive wrote, adding that the bank delivers "real innovation, real accountability, federal oversight."

Bank's Purpose and Design

Jack McDonald, SPV for Stablecoins at Ripple, posted that the approval is "much more than a charter on paper." The new bank is designed to manage the reserves supporting RLUSD and to act as collateral trustee for the token's holders. Regulated custody is part of the design too, which brings federal banking supervision into infrastructure that institutions already use.

Regulatory Journey

Ripple first won conditional OCC approval for the charter in December 2025. Comptroller Jonathan Gould described each application as having gone through a rigorous review and said the applicants had additional conditions to meet before becoming fully operational.

Stuart Alderoty pointed to a decision Ripple made years ago to "build within the regulatory perimeter, not around it." Clear rules and rigorous oversight create trust, he added, and trust is what lets new financial infrastructure scale.

The Blockchain Association, which called Ripple a longtime member, congratulated the company and its CEO. It described the approval as a milestone for bringing digital asset innovation into the US banking system and advancing American leadership.

Banking Integration

Ripple's banking ties extended further earlier this month, when New Jersey-based Cross River Bank agreed to bring RLUSD into its Core Operating System. Businesses on the platform will be able to move funds between US dollars and RLUSD and use ACH transfers and wires through a single API connection, with XRP Ledger transactions settling in about three to five seconds.

Garlinghouse used the conditional approval announcement to go after banking lobbyists, calling their anti-competitive tactics transparent and asking, "What are you so afraid of?" He also described the approval as a massive step forward for RLUSD, which he claimed sets the highest standard for stablecoin compliance, with oversight from both the OCC and the New York Department of Financial Services.