Ripple National Trust Bank wins final OCC approval
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, Ripple announced on 26 October 2026. The bank will manage the reserves behind the RLUSD stablecoin and provide fiduciary digital asset custody to institutional clients once it opens, but launch timing has not been disclosed.
What Ripple National Trust Bank is approved to do
The OCC, the federal regulator that charters national banks, granted conditional approval on 12 December 2025, after Ripple applied in July 2025. The October 2026 decision is the final step and allows the bank to open as a federally supervised national trust bank.
Three activities are approved: managing the segregated reserves that back RLUSD, acting as collateral trustee for those reserves on behalf of token holders, and providing fiduciary digital asset custody. A fiduciary custodian holds assets for a client under a legal duty to act in the client's interest.
The charter does not permit deposit-taking or lending. Ripple has not disclosed client eligibility or service terms, and UK custody providers face a separate cost of authorisation, set out in what a custody platform needs to fund before authorisation.
How RLUSD splits issuer, reserves and custody
RLUSD launched in December 2024, and Ripple puts its market capitalisation at $2.5 billion. Issuance stays with Standard Custody & Trust Company, a limited purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), not with the new bank.
BNY remains the primary reserve custodian. Ripple states that the reserves are held in US dollar deposits, US government securities and other cash equivalents, and that independent third parties attest to circulating supply and reserves every month.
Set side by side, the arrangement gives RLUSD four separate roles. Standard Custody & Trust Company issues the token, Ripple National Trust Bank manages the reserves and acts as collateral trustee, BNY acts as primary reserve custodian, and independent firms attest to the figures. Each role sits with a different legal entity.
Where final OCC approval sits among US stablecoin charters
Circle received final OCC approval for its trust bank in July 2026 and BitGo in December 2025. Coinbase, Crypto.com and World Liberty Financial hold conditional approvals granted this year.
The approval arrives alongside the OCC's final GENIUS Act rule, which sets the US stablecoin regime from 18 January 2027. UK-based custody is also consolidating, with Standard Chartered signing acquisition agreements for Zodia Custody. The pattern across these moves is that reserve holding and custody are being placed in separately chartered firms.
Questions for UK founders on stablecoin reserves
Ripple's announcement does not mention the United Kingdom and does not say whether RLUSD is or will be offered to UK firms. On its face the approval changes nothing for a UK founder, but the structure gives a template for due diligence on any dollar stablecoin, including those reaching businesses through platforms such as the Mastercard and BVNK Global Money Platform.
Four questions follow from the structure above. Which entity issues the token, and which regulator supervises it? Who holds the reserves, and are they segregated from the issuer's own assets? Does the provider's charter cover the service being bought, given that this one excludes deposits and lending? How often are the reserves attested, and by whom?
This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Key takeaways
The OCC granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, announced by Ripple on 26 October 2026, after conditional approval on 12 December 2025.
The bank will manage RLUSD's segregated reserves, act as collateral trustee for token holders and provide fiduciary digital asset custody, but it cannot take deposits or lend.
RLUSD issuance stays with Standard Custody & Trust Company, regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, and BNY remains the primary reserve custodian.
Ripple puts RLUSD's market capitalisation at $2.5 billion and has not said whether the token is or will be offered in the United Kingdom.
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