OCC Grants Ripple Conditional Approval For Banking License

In a major Ripple news, the crypto firm has received a conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national U.S. bank. The company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, highlighted how massive it is for their RLUSD stablecoin, which will gain greater regulatory oversight.

Ripple News: OCC Grants Firm Conditional Approval For Bank Trust Charter

In a press release, the OCC named the crypto firm as one of the five firms that it has granted conditional approval to for its national trust bank charter application. The banking regulator noted that Ripple will join almost 60 other national trust banks that it currently supervises once it meets certain conditions.

This Ripple news comes just over 5 months after the crypto firm first applied for a national banking license for its ‘Ripple National Trust Bank’. The OCC stated that it applied the same review and standards it applies to all charter applications in granting this conditional approval. The regulator added that it would carefully review the application, based on its individual merits, consistent with applicable statutory and regulatory factors.

It is worth mentioning that the OCC also conditionally approved USDC issuer Circle’s application for First National Digital Currency Bank. Meanwhile, it conditionally approved the applications of BitGo, Fidelity, and Paxos to convert from state trust companies to national trust banks.

Brad Garlinghouse Reacts To The Approval

Commenting on this Ripple news, the company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, described it as “huge.” He stated that it is a massive step forward, first for the RLUSD stablecoin, which he claimed is setting the highest standard for stablecoin compliance with both federal and state oversight.

Garlinghouse also addressed banking lobbyists who had advocated against granting these crypto firms a national banking license. The Ripple CEO stated that their anti-competitive tactics are transparent and questioned why they were still making such moves, considering they had earlier criticized the crypto industry for lacking regulatory oversight.

Meanwhile, in a press release, Ripple highlighted how a dual layer of regulation positions the RLUSD stablecoin for greater adoption. “As traditional finance continues to enter the market, they will look to leverage stablecoins with the highest regulatory rigor and compliance, offering the trust and reliability required for enterprise adoption,” the firm said.

The OCC will grant final approval once the crypto firm meets all the pre-opening requirements. As a trust bank, Ripple will be able to provide payment and custody services. They can also execute trades as agents and will be able to custody their reserves.