Ripple National Trust Bank Wins Final OCC Approval to Back RLUSD and Offer Crypto Custody

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval on October 26 for Ripple National Trust Bank, completing a chartering process that began when the OCC issued conditional approval in December 2025. The federally supervised trust bank is authorized to manage reserves backing Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, act as collateral trustee for RLUSD holders, and provide digital-asset custody services to institutional clients.

RLUSD, which has reached a market size of approximately $2.5 billion, will continue to be issued by Standard Custody and Trust Company, Ripple's limited-purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, while reserve management and custody shift to the new federally supervised entity. CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the development a "revolution from within," saying crypto and banks "work better" together, and framed the approval as the product of more than a decade of building regulated financial infrastructure at scale. The announcement was timed ahead of Ripple Swell, the company's annual conference.

XRP traded near $1.29 to $1.31 in the wake of the news, with analysts noting that the bank charter assigns no direct role to XRP itself. XRP whales holding 10 million or more tokens now control about 68.5% of supply, their largest share since November 2022, according to Santiment data, reflecting continued accumulation even as the charter's direct benefits flow to RLUSD and institutional custody clients rather than XRP holders.