Ripple seeks US banking license: a move against Tether and Circle?
Ripple has applied for a national banking license with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Ripple has applied for a national banking license with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Wednesday, as reports The Wall Street Journal. The move would let Ripple offer its crypto services at the federal level with government oversight. A strategic move that should give the company legitimacy and directly targets the throne of the stablecoin market.
CEO Brad Garlinghouse says on X:
As if that wasn't enough, Ripple, through its subsidiary Standard Custody, has also applied for a master account with the Federal Reserve. That would give it direct access to the U.S. central banking system, without going through commercial banks. Result: Ripple could park reserves for its own RLUSD stablecoin directly at the Fed, which should appeal to institutional investors.
And Ripple isn't sitting idle. To speed up RLUSD adoption, the company has teamed up with London fintech OpenPayd. Together they plan to roll out infrastructure for international payments - fast, cheap, and of course with stablecoins.
But it's not a slam dunk yet. Per Messari data, RLUSD still trails market leaders Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) in both usage and volume. RLUSD is making gains, but the real test is still to come.
In short: Ripple is playing high-stakes. A banking license, Fed access, and its own stablecoin could crown a new leader in the stablecoin market if the pieces fall into place. Tether and Circle should be warned.
