The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted Ripple Labs a conditional approval for a national banking charter, a significant regulatory milestone for the company. In a letter to Ripple's Senior Director of Compliance, Brian Spahn, the OCC clarified that this is a preliminary conditional approval, with final authorization pending the fulfillment of all pre-opening requirements.
This charter enables Ripple to diversify its revenue streams, notably by allowing it to offer custody services. The company is expected to leverage this for assets acquired through recent purchases like GTreasury and Hidden Road. Furthermore, Ripple plans to transition its Ripple USD (RLUSD) cash holdings from BNY Mellon to its own bank, a move projected to save millions in long-term custody fees.
Despite this positive development and other bullish fundamentals, the price of XRP has continued to decline. The token dropped to a low of $1.980, extending a downtrend that began after it peaked at $3.6600 in July, representing a fall of approximately 45% from its year-to-date high. This drop persists even amid supportive events such as the Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of several XRP ETFs, including the 21Shares XRP ETF this week. All existing XRP ETFs have collectively seen over $1 billion in inflows without a single day of outflows. Additionally, Ripple USD has gained over $1.3 billion in assets, and the company has achieved a $40 billion valuation.
Analysts attribute XRP's price weakness to the broader cryptocurrency market crash, which has affected most digital assets. Technical analysis suggests the bearish trend may continue. The XRP price chart shows the token trading below a key descending trendline, the 50-day moving average, and the Supertrend indicator. Having lost the crucial $2.0 support level, the next major downside target is seen at $1.5625, which would represent a decline of roughly 20% from current levels.
