Ripple applies for US banking license following Circle

The applications for national banking licenses keep rolling in, with the latest being Ripple, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Ripple filed an application on Wednesday with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for that license. That national banking charter would mean that the OCC would be a regulator of Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD. The firm would consider offering additional crypto services through its banking license, the WSJ said.

"True to our long-standing compliance roots, Ripple is applying for a national bank charter from the OCC. If approved, we would have both state (via NYDFS) and federal oversight, a new (and unique!) benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market," Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a post on X.

Earlier this week, Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Company applied for a Federal Reserve master account, according to the WSJ. That would allow Ripple to hold RLUSD reserves directly with the central bank, Garlinghouse said.

On Monday, Circle Internet Group also applied for a national banking license with the OCC, which would allow for Circle to act as a custodian of its own reserves and hold crypto assets on behalf of institutional clients.

Moves to get federal bank licenses come amid a friendly regulatory environment for crypto under the new Trump administration. The OCC, among other federal financial regulators, has taken friendlier steps, including allowing national banks to buy and sell customers' crypto on their behalf.

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