The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally approved five national trust bank charter applications, and Ripple National Trust Bank is among them. These banks can move forward if they meet specific regulatory requirements.
This is standard practice for new bank charters. In such a way, the OCC is able to ensure that they comply with all federal banking rules before starting operations.
Being approved for a de novo (brand new) national trust bank charter gives Ripple a formal presence in the U.S. federal banking system, which can facilitate broader services for crypto and traditional finance clients.
Alongside Ripple, First National Digital Currency Bank (Circle) also received a de novo approval. Meanwhile, BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos Trust Company have been allowed to perform state-to-national conversions.
The scale of the banking system
There are over 1,000 national banks in the U.S. They collectively control a total of $17 trillion in assets and manage $85 trillion in trust assets.