XRP
Ripple has received final, unconditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, marking a significant step in its strategy to bring digital-asset services further into the regulated US financial system. The decision follows conditional approval granted nearly a year earlier and gives Ripple a new regulatory foundation for expanding its institutional custody and stablecoin-related operations.
The charter comes with important limitations. Ripple will not be permitted to accept deposits or engage in commercial lending under the national trust bank structure. Instead, its authorized activities will include fiduciary digital-asset custody, managing the reserves backing its RLUSD stablecoin, and serving as a collateral trustee for those reserves. The approval therefore strengthens Ripple’s position in institutional financial services without turning the company into a conventional commercial bank.
Ripple’s leadership has presented the decision as evidence that digital-asset businesses can expand by operating within established regulatory frameworks. Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said the company had chosen to build within regulatory boundaries, arguing that clear rules and rigorous oversight are essential to establishing trust in new financial infrastructure. The approval also follows years of legal uncertainty surrounding Ripple and its XRP token.
The company is simultaneously deepening its relationship with BNY, which has served as the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD. Under their expanded collaboration, the firms plan to strengthen institutional digital-asset custody capabilities and explore additional blockchain applications, including tokenized trade finance. BNY also intends to support tokenized assets and investment products issued on the XRP Ledger, while the two companies aim to enable clients to mint and redeem RLUSD directly through the bank.
The broader objective is to move tokenized assets beyond issuance and holding toward practical use in financial markets. Ripple President Monica Long has highlighted payments, collateral and trade finance as areas where blockchain infrastructure could become more useful to institutions. If these initiatives develop as planned, the partnership could connect digital assets more closely with existing banking services and institutional transaction workflows.
Ripple is also extending RLUSD’s reach through a strategic partnership with Robinhood. The stablecoin became available on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp, which Robinhood acquired in 2024, with availability in the Robinhood app expected later this year, according to Ripple. Robinhood can also use RLUSD on the XRP Ledger for institutional settlement. The partnership broadens the stablecoin’s potential distribution and creates additional opportunities for its use across retail-facing services and institutional operations.
These developments come after a prolonged period of regulatory conflict. The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple in December 2020 over the sale of XRP. In 2023, a federal district court ruled that XRP sales to institutional investors at issue in the case constituted securities transactions, while sales to the general public did not. Ripple was subsequently ordered to pay a $125 million penalty. Later efforts to change the outcome encountered legal obstacles, and the SEC subsequently signaled that it would seek to end the case under its new leadership.
Ripple also spent much of 2025 expanding through acquisitions, including prime brokerage firm Hidden Road, stablecoin platform Rail and treasury management software provider GTreasury. Together with the trust bank approval and expanded partnerships, those moves point to a strategy focused on building a broader financial-services business around digital assets, payments and institutional infrastructure.
The central challenge now is execution. Regulatory approval provides a framework for specific trust and custody activities, but it does not guarantee commercial success or remove the risks associated with stablecoins and digital assets. Ripple’s ability to turn its banking relationships, RLUSD distribution and XRP Ledger integrations into sustained institutional usage will help determine whether this expansion delivers lasting value.
