Ripple follows Circle in applying for a banking license in the U.S.

Ripple confirmed on Wednesday that it has submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national banking license. This move comes just a few days after Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, took similar action.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared the news on X, emphasizing that the application for a national banking license is "in line with the longstanding compliance principles of #Ripple ." He added, "If approved, we will have both state (through NYDFS) and federal oversight, a new (and unique!) standard of trust in the stablecoin market."

Currently, Anchorage Digital is the only digital asset company holding this national banking license.

Ripple, which is closely associated with XRP (the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization), recently launched RLUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin. Although RLUSD currently has a market capitalization of $469 million, which is still small compared to Tether (#USDT ) near $158 billion and Circle's $USDC near $62 billion, Ripple's pursuit of a banking license indicates their significant ambitions in the stablecoin space.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ripple will consider offering additional cryptocurrency-related services in the future if they obtain the license.

Garlinghouse also revealed that Ripple's subsidiary Standard Custody has applied for a master account with the Federal Reserve this week. This will allow them to hold RLUSD reserves with the Fed, providing greater flexibility in managing their digital assets. #RLUSD