Final Federal Approval for Ripple Trust Bank as RLUSD Reserves Reach $2,528 Million
Key Facts
The charter procedures for Ripple National Trust Bank became effective on October 26, 2026, according to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s application registry. The approval authorizes the bank to manage the segregated reserves backing RLUSD and act as trustee for the benefit of its holders, in addition to providing fiduciary custody services for digital assets. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the charter “gives us a stronger foundation for RLUSD and the institutional products we are building in payments, custody and capital markets.” The action followed an earlier conditional approval, but it does not mean the bank has begun operations; pre-opening arrangements must still be completed. The decision places reserve management and custody functions within a nationally chartered bank, while the token issuer remains a separate entity.
Ripple confirmed that its bank will not issue RLUSD; that role will remain with Standard Custody & Trust Company, a limited-purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. Issuance will therefore remain within the state-regulated company framework, while the planned bank will add a role in reserve management, trusteeship of collateral and fiduciary custody. Ripple said the Bank of New York Mellon is the token’s primary reserve custodian. It added that it publishes monthly independent third-party attestations on circulating supply and reserve assets. The company said RLUSD is fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, U.S. government securities and cash equivalents.
RLUSD’s circulating supply stood at $2,382.8 million, while reserve funds reached $2,528.0 million, according to Ripple’s transparency page as of October 22, 2026. The figures show that the reported value of reserves exceeded the value of the token in circulation on that date. The data present the scale of circulating liabilities and reserve assets together, four days before the charter procedures took effect. Ripple also said in its statement issued on October 26 that the token’s market capitalization was $2.5 billion. RLUSD was launched in December 2024 and is used in the company’s payments infrastructure and as collateral on the Ripple Prime platform.
The final approval follows a process that began on December 12, 2025, when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced conditional approval of 5 national trust bank charter applications. The applications included Ripple and First National Digital Currency Bank, as well as the conversions of BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos from state-level trust companies to national trust banks. Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said at the time that new entrants to the federal banking sector were “beneficial to consumers, the banking sector and the economy.” The conditional approval letter set out fiduciary powers, including collateral trustee services and fiduciary custody of cryptocurrencies. It also made the start of operations contingent on meeting pre-opening requirements, distinguishing the conditional approval at the time from the final authorization that took effect in October 2026.
The earlier conditional approval letter set financial requirements for the proposed bank, including maintaining Tier 1 capital of at least $11.7 million. It also required the bank to hold at least $5.85 million in eligible liquid assets or 50% of Tier 1 capital, whichever was greater. These figures are part of the terms in the December 2025 letter, and the published final approval statement does not provide details on capital requirements. The conditions therefore remain part of the record of the earlier conditional approval and do not represent a new announcement of financial rules with the final action. The OCC letter made fulfillment of pre-opening requirements a condition for authorization to begin operations.
According to the OCC letter, the bank must notify licensing and organizational structure staff at least 60 days before its planned opening date, in addition to requesting a pre-opening examination. This means that the charter procedures taking effect do not amount to the start of operations, and the opening date remains contingent on completing the steps specified by the agency. Ripple said it will continue working with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the New York Department of Financial Services and other regulators as the bank begins operations. It added that this coordination comes as the United States implements the regulatory framework established by the GENIUS Act. Upon opening, the bank will be authorized to provide fiduciary custody services for digital assets, in addition to reserve management and collateral trusteeship covered by the approved activities.