XRP: Ripple Pursues National Bank Status to Regulate RLUSD

XRP is again making headlines as Ripple Labs takes a bold step forward in its stablecoin ambitions. On July 2, 2025, Ripple officially filed for a national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a move designed to place its stablecoin, RLUSD, under stronger regulatory oversight at both the state and federal levels.

This development marks a significant strategy shift for Ripple as it aims to bolster confidence in RLUSD and set a new standard for transparency within the stablecoin landscape. Currently, RLUSD is already regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), but Ripple is now seeking to double down on its commitment to institutional-grade compliance and oversight.

According to Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, the combination of a federal charter and existing state oversight would establish a “new benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market.” To complement this effort, Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Co. has also submitted a request for a Federal Reserve master account. That request, if approved, would grant RLUSD direct access to conduct reserves management with the central bank—effectively bypassing traditional commercial banking channels, much like custodial institutions operate.

The dual regulatory move is seen as a calculated attempt by Ripple to answer lingering institutional reservations. As highlighted by the Wall Street Journal, major financial entities still tread cautiously in the stablecoin space due to compliance uncertainties. In response, Ripple appears to be positioning RLUSD as a gold standard, offering everything from centralized oversight to robust financial backing.

Ripple’s stablecoin efforts have seen mounting success in 2025. Analytics from Artemis confirm that RLUSD’s circulating supply has ballooned nearly 490%, reaching beyond $455 million. Trading activity has reached unprecedented levels too, with a new monthly high of $2.6 billion in transaction volume recorded in June 2025. Such growth reinforces the asset’s traction, particularly among institutions valuing secure and regulated digital currencies.

As part of its transparency push, Ripple continues to subject RLUSD to monthly attestations and has placed its holdings—composed of cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries—in custody accounts designed to protect them during potential bankruptcy scenarios.

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice-president for stablecoins, emphasized that these efforts reflect a “new bar for compliance and clarity” within the stablecoin sector. If Ripple secures both the charter and the Fed master account, RLUSD would become the first U.S. stablecoin with direct Federal Reserve account privileges—a groundbreaking development in financial infrastructure circles.

Yet, even as Ripple pursues greater regulatory prestige, it is concurrently working to distance itself from recent controversies. Mere hours before the charter announcement, Garlinghouse issued a statement denying any formal relationship with Linqto, a private equity platform facing scrutiny from the SEC and Department of Justice. Investigators are probing whether Linqto engaged in unregulated share sales and manipulated Ripple’s private equity valuation by over 60%, reaching an estimated 4.7 million Ripple shares through secondary channels.

Garlinghouse clarified that Ripple never directly issued equity to Linqto, and as a precautionary measure, Ripple placed a halt on all Linqto-related secondary transactions by late 2024.

In the wake of this controversy, federal regulators are examining whether Linqto violated securities laws by aggregating shares through obscure investment vehicles and offering them to non-accredited investors—a move affecting nearly 5,000 individuals. Linqto’s former CEO William Sarris is at the center of the SEC and DOJ probes.

As the OCC evaluates Ripple’s application, the approval process will include a review of the company’s operational model, risk management strategies, and executive history. It’s expected to undergo a public comment phase and could extend over a year.

Related: Expert Advice: Sell XRP If You’re Confused

If Ripple succeeds in this compliance evolution, it will not only shape the regulatory narrative for stablecoins but also elevate XRP’s ecosystem for institutional finance. With RLUSD already on a sharp upward trajectory and Ripple pushing legal boundaries, the road ahead may herald a new era for regulated crypto finance.