Ripple applies for US banking license after Circle, plans to provide more encryption services

Ripple submitted its application for a federal banking license to the Office of the Superintendent of the Currency (OCC) on Wednesday of this week. If approved, Ripple will be subject to OCC regulation, and its stablecoin RLUSD will also be included in the regulatory scope. In addition, Ripple plans to provide more encryption services through this banking license. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that this move is part of the company's long-term compliance strategy, and if approved, Ripple will achieve dual state (through NYDFS) and federal level regulation, establishing a new trust benchmark for the stablecoin market. Meanwhile, Standard Custody&Co., a subsidiary of Ripple; Trust Company also applied for a Federal Reserve main account this week, which will enable Ripple to directly deposit RLUSD reserves with the Federal Reserve. It is worth mentioning that Circle also submitted a federal banking license application to OCC on Monday, planning to act as its reserve custodian and hold cryptocurrency assets for institutional clients. Previously, Circle applied for a US banking license to hold USDC reserves.