Ripple Labs Seeks U.S. Bank Charter to Cement Crypto–Finance Bridge

Ripple Labs recently applied for a national bank charter with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and a Master Account with the Federal Reserve. 

CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed the move Wednesday, calling it an extension of Ripple’s long-running push to anchor crypto inside mainstream financial rails.

“True to our long-standing compliance roots, Ripple is applying for a national bank charter from the OCC,” Garlinghouse wrote on X. The CEO also confirmed that the company applied for a Master Account at the Federal Reserve, which would open another path to hold reserves directly with the US central bank instead of routing them through intermediaries.

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Ripple always has and will continue to build trusted, battle-tested and secure infrastructure. In a $250B+ market, RLUSD stands out for putting regulation first, setting the standard that institutions expect.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO

An Interesting Timing

Ripple’s application comes a few days after Circle filed its own paperwork with the OCC to launch a national trust bank for USDC reserves, as Crypto News Australia reported. Both bids arrive as the Senate’s newly passed GENIUS Act lays out clearer rules for dollar-backed stablecoins and locks oversight of larger issuers under the OCC’s scope.

Anchorage Digital is so far the only crypto company with a national banking license. Ripple wants to join that shortlist as the regulatory framework for stablecoins gets sharper teeth under the newly passed GENIUS Act, which hands the OCC more direct control of major dollar-pegged issuers.

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Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, has carved out a spot among the largest dollar-pegged tokens despite trailing giants like Tether and Circle’s USDC. Launched in October last year, RLUSD now holds a market value of around US$480M (AU$729M), CoinMarketCap data shows.