According to the Wall Street Journal, blockchain payment leader Ripple has officially submitted an application to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank license. If approved, Ripple will become a federal-level financial institution that can operate across states in the United States. After the news was exposed, Ripple (XRP) rose by more than 3%.
In addition to operating its own blockchain XRP Ledger, Ripple has also issued a stablecoin RLUSD with a market value of $440 million and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). At the same time, Ripple also provides digital asset custody services. If this application is approved, Ripple will be able to expand the scope of cryptocurrency services and operate across states under federal supervision.
So far, Anchorage Digital is the only digital asset company in the United States that holds a federal trust bank license; Circle, the second largest stablecoin USDC issuer, also applied to the OCC to establish a federal trust bank earlier this week.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote on the social platform X: "If the application is approved, Ripple will be subject to both NYDFS and federal regulation, and is expected to establish a new and unique trust benchmark for the stablecoin market."
Brad Garlinghouse also revealed that Ripple has recently applied to the Federal Reserve (Fed) through Standard Custody, a trust and custody company it acquired last year, hoping to obtain a "Master Account".
Once the master account is obtained, Ripple will be able to deposit RLUSD's reserve assets (such as U.S. Treasuries) directly with the central bank, adding another line of defense for the transparency and security of the stablecoin.
In the past, many cryptocurrency companies have tried to apply for Fed master accounts, but all have failed. It is clear that if Ripple succeeds, it will be a major breakthrough in the cryptocurrency industry.
