Did Ripple Just Become a Bank? Not Quite On October 26, Ripple announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted final approval to charter Ripple National Trust Bank.
On October 26, Ripple announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted final approval to charter Ripple National Trust Bank. So, is Ripple a bank now? Sort of. It's a federal charter, but a narrow one.
That's the national trust bank crypto story in a nutshell. Firms get federal supervision and the right to hold assets for clients. They don't get FDIC insurance, and their powers stay tied to an approved business plan.
This guide covers what a national trust bank crypto charter allows, what it blocks, who holds one, and how approval works. It ends with a scoreboard we'll keep updated.
A national trust bank is a federally chartered bank that mostly holds and manages assets for clients. The OCC says most of these banks don't take deposits or make loans, and they don't carry FDIC insurance. A full-service national bank takes deposits, lends, and can offer insured accounts.
The table shows the general picture. Each bank's real powers depend on applicable law, its approved business plan, and the conditions in its OCC decision.
Feature
National trust bank
Full-service national bank
Main job
Holds and manages client assets
Takes deposits, lends, runs accounts
Customer deposits
Not at the uninsured trust banks in this story
Yes
Lending
Not the business model; activity limited to the approved plan
Yes
FDIC insurance
No
Yes, on eligible deposits
Crypto custody
Yes, if in the approved plan
Allowed
Reach
National charter; activity-specific rules still apply
National charter
The label causes confusion. An OCC trust charter is a real federal bank license, just a specialized one. That's why national trust bank crypto headlines can mislead.
So when people search for a crypto bank license, a national trust bank crypto charter is the type most firms are actually getting. Ripple is now a federally chartered crypto bank on paper. It's not a bank where you can open a savings account.
The permissions of a national trust bank crypto charter fall into three buckets.
Custody means holding assets safely on behalf of someone else. It's the core job of any national trust bank crypto firm.
Ripple says its bank's approved activities include managing the segregated reserves behind its RLUSD stablecoin. It will also act as collateral trustee for those reserves and provide fiduciary custody once it opens. Stablecoin reserves are the cash and similar assets that back each token. A collateral trustee is an independent party holding assets for the benefit of token holders.
Other firms want more than custody. The OCC's conditional approval for trust bank describes proposed custody, staking, trade settlement, and riskless principal trading tied to custody. Those are plans, not live services. Riskless principal trading means matching a buy and a sell at once, so the firm isn't betting on price.
A fiduciary has a legal duty to act in the client's best interest. Trust banks use these fiduciary powers for estates, pensions, and investment funds. A national trust bank crypto charter lets firms bring digital assets into that same framework.
A March 2026 OCC rule confirms that trust-only banks may also do some non-fiduciary work alongside their trust business. The OCC says the rule clarifies existing authority. Community bankers disagree, and they're suing.
Payments are narrower than the headlines suggest. A trust bank can settle trades and move assets for its custody clients. It can't run everyday checking accounts, because that needs deposits.
For stablecoin firms, the reserve role matters more. The OCC says the GENIUS Act, the US stablecoin law, and its final implementing rule both take effect on January 18, 2027. Some pieces, such as anti-money-laundering rules, follow in separate rulemakings. Circle's release treats managing the USDC reserve as a future capability of its charter. A national trust bank crypto charter puts that reserve under OCC exams only if and when the firm moves it.
Charters differ, so each national trust bank crypto approval needs reading. In general, a national trust bank crypto charter doesn't give a firm:
Deposit-taking. The decisions describe uninsured trust banks that won't take deposits.
A lending business. These banks are approved for trust-company operations and related activities. Exact limits depend on the law, the approved plan, and OCC conditions. Big changes to the plan need OCC sign-off.
FDIC insurance. The trust banks in this story are uninsured. Separately, crypto held in custody isn't a deposit, and deposit insurance doesn't cover it at any institution.
A free pass on rules. Each bank still faces OCC exams, plus capital, governance, and risk-management conditions.
Direct coverage of tokens. Ripple's approved activities center on RLUSD reserves and custody. They don't directly address XRP.
The word "bank" trips people up. The American Bankers Association has pushed regulators to rethink naming, because customers may assume deposit insurance they don't have.
Approval and opening are different things. A firm moves through four stages:
Application received
Conditional approval
Final approval
Open and operating
Final approval isn't the same as open. Circle and Ripple both say their national trust bank crypto services start upon opening. Only a handful of national trust bank crypto firms have passed stage three. The status below comes from OCC records and company announcements, checked on October 27, 2026.
Firm
Entity
Latest confirmed milestone
Open for customers?
Anchorage Digital
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A.
Operating under OCC supervision since Jan 2021
Yes
Circle
First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. (Circle National Trust)
Final approval, announced by Circle, Jul 10, 2026
Not announced
Ripple
Ripple National Trust Bank
Final approval, announced by Ripple, Oct 26, 2026
Not announced
BitGo
BitGo Bank & Trust, N.A.
Conversion completed, per the company
Company says it operates as a national trust bank
Paxos
Paxos Trust Company, N.A.
Conversion completed Dec 12, 2025, per the company
Company says it's under OCC supervision
Circle and Ripple's final-approval status rests on the companies' own announcements. Check the OCC's decisions page for the letters.
Anchorage spent years as the only crypto-native name holding a national trust bank crypto charter. In February 2026, the OCC ended its early operating agreement after the bank met every condition.
Circle took about seven months from conditional to final approval. Ripple took roughly ten. Ripple's release gives no opening date.
Four reasons push firms toward a national trust bank crypto charter.
One framework beats many. A national charter can cut down state-by-state licensing for covered activities. Activity-specific rules still apply.
Credibility. Large institutions often prefer partners under bank-style oversight.
Reserve oversight. Stablecoin issuers face tighter rules soon. Federal supervision gives regulators more to check.
Dual oversight. RLUSD already has New York state supervision. Ripple says its bank adds federal OCC supervision on top.
Not everyone is cheering. On October 2, the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC. The suit challenges the March 2026 rule and a 2021 interpretive letter that opened trust charters to non-fiduciary crypto firms. It also targets one conditional approval, Protego's.
The group argues the National Bank Act doesn't authorize those powers. The OCC disagrees. The suit asks the court to stop the OCC from using the rule for more charters. A ruling against the OCC could hit every national trust bank crypto applicant still in the queue. We covered the details in ourICBA lawsuit report.
For customers, a national trust bank crypto charter changes who supervises the custodian. It doesn't change what happens if things go wrong.
The OCC supervises each national trust bank crypto firm, including exams of its controls, capital, and governance. Custody assets are generally kept separate from the firm's own funds.
Deposit-insurance status and custody treatment are two separate questions. These trust banks aren't FDIC-insured. And crypto in custody isn't a deposit anywhere. Oversight lowers risk. It doesn't guarantee safe custody or prevent losses.
Bank trade groups have asked the OCC to confirm its failure-handling tools work for uninsured banks. That's still open.
Smart questions for any national trust bank crypto custodian:
Is the chartered bank the entity holding my assets, or a sister company?
How are client assets kept separate from company funds?
What do the terms say about losses?
A national trust bank crypto approval isn't one decision. It's a staircase.
Application received. A firm files for a new national trust bank, or to convert a state trust company. New-charter filings open for public comment. Conversions don't.
Conditional approval. The OCC reviews capital, governance, risk controls, and management. It approves with conditions attached. The bank can't hold client assets yet.
Build and pre-opening exam. A new entity raises capital, hires staff, and sets up controls. Then the OCC checks it's ready.
Final approval. This comes only after the pre-opening conditions are met.
Open and operating. Ripple and Circle both describe services starting upon opening.
Conversions move faster. Paxos says its approval and conversion finished on the same day.
Ripple filed in July 2025, won conditional approval that December, and announced final approval on October 26. That's about sixteen months for one national trust bank crypto approval. Conditional approvals can also expire. Protego and Paxos held 2021 approvals that lapsed in 2023.
A national trust bank crypto charter gives firms federal supervision and custody powers. It doesn't give them FDIC cover, and each bank's powers follow its approved plan. What stands out is the pace: the national trust bank crypto queue keeps growing.
Two things stay uncertain: the ICBA lawsuit, and how fast each approval turns into an open bank. Before trusting any custodian, check its status on the OCC's own pages.
The scoreboard below tracks every national trust bank crypto approval.
Conditionally approved national trust bank crypto firms: no final approval found
Firm
Entity
Latest OCC decision
Fidelity Digital Assets
Fidelity Digital Assets, N.A. (conversion)
Conditional, 1355, Dec 2025 (completion unconfirmed)
Bridge (Stripe)
Bridge National Trust Bank
Conditional, 1365, Feb 2026
Protego
National Digital Trust Company
Conditional, 1366, Feb 2026 (named in ICBA suit)
Crypto.com
Foris DAX National Trust Bank
Conditional, 1367, Feb 2026
Coinbase
Coinbase National Trust Company
Conditional, 1370, Apr 2026
Laser Digital (Nomura)
Laser Digital National Trust Bank
Conditional, 1377, May 2026
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, N.A.
Preliminary conditional, 1378, Jun 2026
Connectia (Sony Bank)
Connectia Trust, N.A.
Conditional, 1380, Jul 2026
World Liberty
World Liberty Trust Company, N.A.
Preliminary conditional, 1385, Aug 2026
Bastion
Bastion Platforms National Trust Company (conversion)
Conditional, 1391, Sep 2026
Catena Labs
Catena Trust Bank, N.A.
Preliminary conditional, 1392, Sep 2026
Agora
Agora National Trust Bank
Preliminary conditional, 1393, Sep 2026
These are decision numbers, not final approvals. The services named in these approvals are proposed plans. None is confirmed live.
Pending national trust bank crypto applications on the OCC's public list
Applicant
Date received
Rain National Trust Bank
Oct 5, 2026
Modern Treasury National Trust Bank
Oct 1, 2026
Gurufin National Trust Bank
Sep 30, 2026
Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. (Block)
Sep 4, 2026
zerohash national trust bank
Aug 19, 2026
Dakota National Trust Bank
Jul 28, 2026
Payward National Trust Company (Kraken's parent)
May 8, 2026
Lorum National Trust Bank, N.A.
Mar 31, 2026
EDX Trust, N.A.
Mar 26, 2026
PAYO Digital Bank, N.A.
Feb 23, 2026
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and isn't financial, legal, or investment advice. Crypto is high-risk, and regulatory outcomes can change. Do your own research before using any custodian or token.
