XRP consolidates at $2 while Ripple obtains the national trust banking license

Source: Yellow Original Title: XRP Price Consolidates at $2 as Ripple Receives National Banking License from OCC

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Current Situation

XRP trades near $2 despite Ripple Labs obtaining conditional approval for a national trust bank license. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted the approval on December 12, marking a significant regulatory milestone for the crypto payments company.

XRP has fallen approximately 40% from its 2025 highs, lagging behind Bitcoin and Ethereum despite multiple positive catalysts.

What Happened

Ripple received conditional approval to establish Ripple National Trust Bank under federal banking supervision. The license allows Ripple to offer cryptocurrency custody services and manage reserves backing its stablecoin RLUSD, which has an approximate market capitalization of $1.3 billion.

Greg Baer, CEO of the Bank Policy Institute, questioned whether OCC requirements adequately address operational risks, reflecting the traditional banking sector’s opposition to banking licenses for crypto firms.

The approval places RLUSD under dual regulatory oversight by both federal authorities and the New York State Department of Financial Services, through the OCC and NYDFS.

Spot XRP ETFs have attracted nearly $1 billion in assets since their launch in November, with total inflows approaching $971 million, according to industry data. This milestone was achieved faster than Solana-based ETFs, despite recent weakness in XRP’s price.

Ripple’s institutional expansion accelerated in November, when the company secured $500 million from Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, valuing the firm at $40 billion. The funding round included Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.

Cross-chain expansion continued on December 12, when Hex Trust launched wrapped XRP on Solana, Ethereum, Optimism, and HyperEVM with over $100 million in initial liquidity. This regulated wrapper enables XRP participation in decentralized finance applications across multiple blockchain networks.

RLUSD received regulatory approval from Abu Dhabi in November, allowing its institutional use within the emirate’s financial hub.

Why It Matters

The disconnect between Ripple’s positive developments and XRP’s price action reflects broader market pressure on cryptocurrencies following Federal Reserve rate decisions.

Technical indicators show XRP trading below key moving averages with weak momentum, suggesting that bears maintain short-term control despite fundamental improvements. The level of $2 has become a critical psychological support, and analysts point to $1.98 as the next downside test if current levels fail. Resistance zones between $2.06 and $2.13 have consistently rejected rebound attempts.

Ripple’s banking license addresses longstanding institutional concerns about crypto custody services operating outside traditional financial regulation. The approval could accelerate RLUSD adoption among banks and payment processors seeking compliant stablecoin settlement options.

However, market participants appear more focused on technical price structures than fundamental catalysts. XRP’s relative performance remains inferior to Bitcoin and Ethereum despite Ripple processing over $95 billion in payment volumes and expanding its regulatory licenses to 75 jurisdictions worldwide.

The divergence between network growth and token price behavior raises persistent questions about XRP’s value capture mechanisms. Institutional investors, through ETF vehicles, now hold significant exposure, creating new price dynamics separate from retail trading patterns that historically dominated XRP markets.