Ripple spent years fighting US regulators in court. Now one of them has handed it a bank charter. On Monday, October 26, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, which will manage the reserves behind Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin and offer fiduciary custody of digital assets.
It isn’t a bank in the everyday sense — no deposits, no loans. But it puts a federally supervised institution between RLUSD holders and the reserves that back their tokens.
Key facts
- The OCC gave Ripple final approval on October 26, 2026 for Ripple National Trust Bank, based in New York, charter number 25364 per Crypto Briefing.
- Approved activities: managing segregated RLUSD reserves, acting as trustee of those reserves for holders, and fiduciary custody of digital assets.
- The trust bank takes no deposits and grants no loans, so FDIC deposit insurance does not apply.
- Conditional approval came on December 12, 2025, more than ten months earlier.
- Ripple puts RLUSD’s market capitalisation at $2.5 billion; RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, supervised by NYDFS.
- RLUSD is not authorised as an e-money token under MiCA in the EU.
What did the OCC approve for Ripple?
The OCC granted final approval for a national trust bank, Ripple National Trust Bank, to operate under federal supervision. Its approved activities are managing segregated reserves for RLUSD, acting as trustee of those reserves on behalf of token holders, and providing fiduciary custody of digital assets. The charter does not allow it to take deposits or make loans.
In its announcement, Ripple framed the approval as a step toward crypto and banks working together; CEO Brad Garlinghouse has long argued the two work better combined. Crypto Briefing reports the bank is based in New York with charter number 25364. Ripple’s announcement gives no figures on reserve size, timetables or volumes.
Why a trust bank, not a regular bank
A national trust bank is a narrower charter: it can hold and administer assets for others but doesn’t run a deposit-and-lending business. That makes it a fit for stablecoin reserves — assets that must be held safely and separately — without taking on the risks of lending.
A stablecoin is a promise. The reserve is where the promise lives.
Does this make RLUSD safer?
It adds a federal supervisor to the reserve side, which strengthens oversight, but it doesn’t make RLUSD insured. Because the trust bank takes no deposits, FDIC deposit insurance doesn’t apply. RLUSD’s issuer remains Standard Custody & Trust Company, a limited-purpose trust company supervised by the New York Department of Financial Services.
The approval also fits the broader US framework: Congress passed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, creating a federal supervisory path for stablecoin issuers. Ripple says it holds more than 85 licences across jurisdictions.
Can I use RLUSD in Europe?
With limits. RLUSD is not authorised as an e-money token under MiCA, and it wasn’t in the EU’s e-money token register when checked on October 14, 2026. Some venues still list it: Kraken carries five RLUSD pairs including a euro pair, though that pair was on post-only status with no turnover in the 24 hours before an October 27 survey. Bitvavo and Coinbase list no RLUSD markets.
That contrasts with USDC, which the EBA named the EU’s first significant e-money token in mid-October — see our report on that decision. A US bank charter and EU authorisation are separate questions.
What this means for swap users
RLUSD runs on the XRP Ledger, where fees are paid in XRP, and on Ethereum. If you move between XRP, RLUSD and other stablecoins, check which network each side uses before you send — a token on the wrong chain is a common and expensive mistake. On SwapZilla, the network is shown for every asset in the quote, and coins go straight to the address you enter.
The providers page lists which exchange services route each pair, and our guide on refund addresses explains what happens if a deposit arrives on an unsupported network. This is not financial advice.
Final thoughts
The OCC approval doesn’t move RLUSD’s market cap or XRP’s price by itself. What it changes is the plumbing: reserves held by a federally chartered trustee. In a market where stablecoin trust is the whole product, that plumbing is the story.