Ripple gets final US approval for its own trust bank. Here is what that means, and what it doesn't

Ripple now has permission to open its own trust bank in the United States.

On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The OCC is the US government agency that oversees national banks.

This is the last step in a long process. Ripple applied in July 2025. The OCC gave it a conditional “yes” on 12 December 2025. That meant Ripple first had to meet certain requirements. Now it has the full green light.

What the bank will do

The new bank has three main jobs:

• Look after the money behind RLUSD. RLUSD is Ripple’s stablecoin, a digital token meant to always be worth $1. Every token is meant to be backed by real dollars and safe assets such as US government bonds. The bank will manage those reserves, kept separate from Ripple’s own money.
• Act as a trustee for RLUSD holders. The bank will look after those reserves on behalf of the people who hold RLUSD.
• Hold crypto for businesses. It can offer “custody”, which means storing digital assets safely for companies and institutions.

RLUSD launched in December 2024. It is now worth about $2.5bn in total, Ripple said.

What the bank is not

There has been a lot of hype on social media, so this part matters.

A national trust bank is not a normal bank. It looks after assets for clients. It cannot take deposits like a high-street bank, and it cannot lend money.

Money held there has no FDIC insurance. The FDIC is the US scheme that protects ordinary bank deposits if a bank fails.

So you will not be able to open a Ripple savings account or get a Ripple loan.

Who still issues RLUSD

The trust bank will not create RLUSD tokens. That job stays with Standard Custody & Trust Company, another Ripple company. It is regulated by New York’s financial watchdog, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

The change adds a second layer of oversight. New York still regulates the company that issues the coin. Now a federal regulator will also supervise the bank that looks after the money behind it.

What Ripple said

Ripple’s chief executive, Brad Garlinghouse, posted on X at 23:22 GMT on Monday.

“We’ve always said crypto and banks work better together — this is what that looks like. Real innovation, real accountability, federal oversight,” he wrote.

Other crypto firms

Ripple is not the only crypto company going down this road.

Circle, which issues the USDC stablecoin, got its final OCC approval in July. Coinbase, Crypto.com and Bridge, which is owned by Stripe, have conditional approvals but not final ones yet, Cointelegraph reported.

Not everyone is happy. Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticised the wave of approvals for crypto firms. She says they break the National Bank Act and pose risks to the financial system, The Block reported.

XRP price

XRP is a separate digital token linked to Ripple. The approval covers RLUSD and custody, not XRP.

Its price barely moved. XRP was trading at about $1.30 on Tuesday, much the same as on Monday.