Ripple Secures Final OCC Approval for National Trust Bank Behind RLUSD

Ripple has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate a national trust bank, according to reporting from Decrypt and Cointelegraph.

The federally supervised institution will manage the reserves backing Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin and provide digital asset custody services. Decrypt reported that RLUSD is valued at $2.6 billion.

The approval comes amid a legal dispute over the OCC's handling of charters for crypto-focused firms. According to BitKE, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), a trade group representing banks that typically hold less than $10 billion in assets, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The group is seeking to overturn an OCC rule and related guidance that make it easier for crypto companies to apply for national trust charters. The ICBA argues that such charters give crypto firms the credibility of a federal bank charter without requiring them to meet the same obligations as traditional banks, including capital and liquidity standards and consolidated supervision.