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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally granted national trust bank charters to five digital asset companies on Friday, which include Ripple, Circle, and Fidelity Digital Assets. This action officially incorporates these firms into the federal banking system, providing them with direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment infrastructure and circumventing state-level regulation.
New participants in the federal banking landscape benefit consumers, the banking sector, and the economy. Learn more about the OCC’s conditional approval of five national trust bank charter applications. https://t.co/xF3GzoJXGf pic.twitter.com/NhV3HfoFNj
— OCC (@USOCC) December 12, 2025
“New participants in the federal banking landscape benefit consumers, the banking sector, and the economy,” stated Comptroller Jonathan Gould in the announcement.
The Approved List:
- New Charters: Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank, Ripple National Trust Bank.
- Conversions (State to National): Paxos Trust Co., BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets.
This represents the first expansion of federal crypto banking charters since Anchorage Digital received approval in 2021.
Washington’s Regulatory Framework Develops
The approvals come in the wake of the July 18 implementation of the ‘GENIUS Act’ (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins), which established a federal framework for the $314 billion stablecoin sector.
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Moreover, the OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1188 on Tuesday (Dec. 9), clearly allowing national banks to engage in crypto asset trading on a “riskless principal” basis.
OCC Interpretive Letter 1188 confirms that a national bank may participate in riskless principal crypto-asset transactions as part of its banking operations. https://t.co/gXirMExhCi pic.twitter.com/uPRFGqb2NZ
— OCC (@USOCC) December 9, 2025
Market Response
In spite of the structural liquidity enhancement, XRP ($2.00, -2.19%) did not exhibit any immediate fluctuations. Traders seem to have already accounted for the approval following the passage of the GENIUS Act.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire remarked that the charter “enhances” the company’s capability to settle USDC directly through the Fed, eliminating the need for commercial bank intermediaries.
Institutional Transition: Mitigating Risks in Digital Finance
This represents a liquidity infrastructure development, rather than a retail surge. By obtaining national charters, Circle and Paxos effectively eliminate the “commercial bank counterparty risk” that caused the USDC depeg during the SVB crisis.
For trading desks, this implies that 24/7 settlement finality through FedMaster accounts is on the horizon. Anticipate an increase in the spread between onshore regulated stablecoins and their offshore counterparts (USDT) as institutions shift capital to Fed-integrated systems.
The post XRP Stalls Despite Ripple’s OCC Win – Here’s The Institutional Catch appeared first on Cryptonews.
