Ripple’s national trust bank wins final OCC approval

Ripple National Trust Bank (RNTB) has won final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, completing a federal charter focused on RLUSD reserves and digital asset custody.

Ripple announced the decision Monday. According to Ripple, RNTB can manage reserves backing Ripple USD (RLUSD). It can also act as collateral trustee for RLUSD holders. Digital asset custody services fall within its mandate.

“We’ve always said crypto and banks work better together — this is what that looks like. Real innovation, real accountability, federal oversight,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on X on Monday.

What does the approval change for RLUSD?

RNTB received conditional approval in December 2025. Monday’s decision completes the chartering process.

Standard Custody & Trust Company will continue to issue RLUSD. It is Ripple’s limited purpose trust company. The New York Department of Financial Services regulates the issuer.

The practical change is operational: Standard Custody keeps token issuance, while RNTB handles reserve management, collateral trustee duties and custody work under a federally supervised charter. Its collateral role is specific. RNTB will serve as trustee for the benefit of RLUSD holders, rather than acting as the token issuer.

That gives RLUSD a clearer institutional structure. The approval does not announce a consumer deposit product. This is a change in charter status, not a new stablecoin.

Why the trust-bank model matters

A national trust bank holds and manages client assets. It is a federally chartered institution. Its business centers on entrusted assets.

Unlike a typical commercial bank, most national trust banks do not accept deposits or make loans and do not carry Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance, according to the OCC.

For RNTB, that narrows the operational frame. Reserve, trustee and custody work remain central. The approval does not turn it into a retail bank.

How does Ripple compare with other crypto firms?

Circle secured final OCC approval in July. Coinbase received a preliminary green light in April. Crypto.com and Stripe-owned Bridge received conditional approvals in February. Those firms remain at the conditional approval stage.

Ripple therefore joins Circle among crypto companies that have moved beyond conditional approval, while Coinbase, Crypto.com and Bridge still await final decisions under the OCC process. That distinction matters when comparing crypto firms’ bank applications. RNTB now has final approval for three institutional functions. RLUSD issuance stays with Standard Custody.

What happens after the charter?

The announcement gave no implementation deadline. It disclosed no customer fee schedule. RLUSD users have no stated start date for the arrangement.

The next test is operational rather than procedural: whether RNTB can manage RLUSD reserves, serve as collateral trustee and custody digital assets while remaining within its OCC-supervised mandate. Watch any disclosure of reserve custody arrangements. Also watch for OCC action affecting the charter.

A separate legal dispute concerns OCC charters. An advocacy group is pushing back against a lawsuit by banks, according to related coverage cited in the announcement. That report supplied no case details or schedule.

The dispute adds a legal backdrop to the wider chartering process, although the announcement offered no timetable for the banks’ case or the advocacy response. RLUSD’s architecture now combines an issuer regulated in New York with an OCC-supervised trust bank. The immediate consequence is institutional, not speculative. RNTB’s authority covers reserves, collateral trustee duties and custody.

No calendar deadline was disclosed; the next checkpoint is OCC-supervised operation of the newly authorized functions.