U.S. OCC grants final approval for Ripple’s national trust bank
Stablecoin regulatory framework continues to take shape ahead of GENIUS Act implementation
Major banks pursue joint stablecoin issuance and expand blockchain infrastructure

U.S. blockchain company Ripple has received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. As stablecoins are increasingly brought under mainstream financial regulation centered on the GENIUS Act, Ripple has secured a foundation for expanding its reserve management and digital asset custody businesses under federal supervision. U.S. financial authorities are now encouraging not only private companies but also community banks to enter the market, while major U.S. banks are accelerating joint stablecoin issuance and expanding deposit tokens and blockchain payment services.

Ripple Comes Under U.S. Financial Regulatory Supervision

According to cryptocurrency news outlets including The Block and Cointelegraph on the 26th (all dates hereafter are local time), U.S. blockchain company Ripple announced that day that it had received final OCC approval to establish Ripple National Trust Bank (RNTB). Ripple applied to the OCC for a bank charter in July last year and received conditional approval in December of the same year. It subsequently reached the final approval stage after approximately 10 months of establishment procedures. However, Ripple has not been granted the same operating powers as a conventional commercial bank. RNTB is a special-purpose bank focused on trust activities and cannot accept deposits from the general public or provide loans to individuals or businesses. It is also not covered by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposit insurance.

RNTB’s primary role is to manage reserves for Ripple USD (RLUSD), the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple. Specifically, it will manage the reserves backing RLUSD separately from other assets and act as collateral trustee for those reserves in the interests of RLUSD holders. Once banking operations begin, RNTB also plans to provide trust-based digital asset custody services to businesses and financial institutions. RLUSD issuance will continue to be handled by Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Company (SCTC), which is supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Stablecoin Rules Take Shape

The approval came as the United States works to establish its stablecoin regulatory framework. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act in July last year, setting standards for the issuance of dollar-pegged stablecoins and the management of their reserves. The law’s core requirements are that stablecoin issuers maintain reserve assets covering 100% of the amount in circulation and regularly disclose the composition and size of those reserves. Reserve assets are restricted to highly liquid assets such as cash, bank deposits and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, and issuers are required to honor users’ redemption requests. Bank subsidiaries and federally authorized nonbank financial companies, among others, may issue stablecoins, but unauthorized issuance is prohibited in principle. This gives concrete form to the policy objective of bringing stablecoins into mainstream financial markets by applying federal supervision to their issuance and operation.

Financial authorities are also accelerating work on the relevant regulations. On the 21st, the OCC finalized rules governing stablecoin issuers’ reserve management, redemption procedures, risk management, audits and asset custody. The rules will take effect alongside the GENIUS Act on January 18 next year, and the process for accepting applications for issuance authorization will be announced separately. The Federal Reserve (Fed) also released proposed rules last month on authorization and supervisory standards for banks issuing stablecoins, while the FDIC and the Treasury Department are developing detailed rules on reserve and capital requirements and restrictions on issuance and sales.

Table 1. Progress on Stablecoin Regulation by U.S. Authority

Community Banks Also Encouraged to Issue Stablecoins

Government efforts to encourage entry into the stablecoin market are also gathering momentum. In a statement on the 26th, the OOC said, “We want community banks to participate in shaping the payment systems of the future,” and urged them to “apply to become authorized stablecoin issuers, either directly or through subsidiaries, under the GENIUS Act, which takes effect on January 18 next year.” By encouraging community banks to participate in the stablecoin business, the authorities are seeking to broaden the foundations of the digital payments market.

The OCC also emphasized that these opportunities complement its Community Bank Comeback initiative. The initiative supports the growth of small and midsize banks by adjusting regulatory burdens and tailoring supervision to community banks’ size, business characteristics and risk levels. The OCC has in fact simplified application procedures for community banks and reduced duplicative documentation requirements this year. Last month, it also raised the asset threshold for extending the interval between on-site bank examinations from 12 months to 18 months, from USD 3 billion (approximately USD 3.06 billion) to USD 6 billion (approximately USD 6.12 billion).

Major U.S. Banks Step Up Market Entry

Major U.S. banks are also actively entering the stablecoin market. Last month, global financial institutions, including major U.S. firms Bank of America (BofA), Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Capital One and PNC Financial Services, agreed to establish a new entity to jointly issue a dollar-pegged stablecoin. The project began in October last year when 10 major global banks jointly explored issuing a digital payment instrument. Participation has grown to 21 institutions this year, bringing the initiative into a concrete commercialization phase.

The banks plan to use the jointly issued stablecoin to support international remittances, business-to-business payments and settlement of digital asset transactions. In particular, they aim to improve reliability and transaction convenience by combining the banking sector’s existing customer base, payment infrastructure and anti-money laundering systems with blockchain technology. The entity’s establishment procedures are scheduled for the second half of this year, with the first stablecoin expected to launch in the first half of 2027. The strategy is to focus initially on dollar-pegged products and later expand issuance to other Group of Seven (G7) currencies, including the euro.

Moves to Expand Blockchain Payment Networks

At the individual bank level, JPMorgan Chase is expanding its own blockchain payment infrastructure. In November last year, JPMorgan launched JPMD, a dollar-based deposit token for institutional clients, on Base, the blockchain network of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. JPMD converts dollars deposited at the bank into digital tokens to facilitate transfers and payments between institutions. Unlike a conventional stablecoin, it represents a claim on bank deposits. This year, JPMorgan also pursued work to expand the service to Canton Network, a blockchain network for institutions.

Citigroup is also stepping up efforts to strengthen payment services using digital assets. In 2023, Citigroup unveiled Citi Token Services, a blockchain-based payment platform for corporate and institutional clients. Last month, it expanded the service beyond existing markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong to Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the same month, it also announced plans to work with Coinbase to connect corporate clients’ existing bank accounts to stablecoin payment networks. The plan is to provide Coinbase customers with automatic conversion between dollars and stablecoins, and enable merchants to settle payments received in stablecoins in fiat currency through Citigroup’s corporate payment platform, Spring by Citi.