Ripple's U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, is on the cusp of a significant market milestone, with its total market capitalization approaching $1.6 billion. According to CoinGecko data, RLUSD currently holds a market cap of $1.58 billion, making it the 52nd largest cryptocurrency overall and the 12th largest stablecoin in circulation. This growth follows a recent 10 million token mint on the XRP Ledger.
The stablecoin's expansion is part of an aggressive minting strategy by the RLUSD Treasury. In February alone, nearly 75 million new RLUSD were injected into circulation over three weeks, including a record single-day mint of 69 million tokens. This activity has propelled RLUSD past established competitors like Binance's BFUSD ($1.31B) and Tron's USDD ($712M), though it still trails giants like Tether's USDT ($183.6B) and Circle's USDC ($77B).
Concurrently, Ripple is nearing a landmark regulatory achievement. The company is working through final pre-opening requirements for its Ripple National Trust Bank (RNTB) after receiving conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in December 2025. Once fully authorized, RNTB will operate within the U.S. federal banking framework—a status no other crypto-native firm currently holds with full clearance.
The charter will allow RNTB to offer institutional custody and cross-border settlement services, specifically excluding consumer deposits and retail lending. A primary function will be to anchor the reserve structure behind the RLUSD stablecoin, providing a federally compliant settlement layer. The company will operate under dual oversight from the OCC at the federal level and the New York Department of Financial Services for stablecoin operations.
On-chain data indicates preparation for this new phase. Since March 2, Ripple's treasury has minted approximately 98 million RLUSD tokens across Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, a volume signaling readiness for broader institutional deployment rather than routine maintenance.
The race for national trust charters has intensified, with 18 applications submitted to the OCC in 2025 and more in early 2026 from firms like Circle, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets, which also have conditional clearance. Anchorage Digital remains the only fully operational national trust bank. Political developments, including the CLARITY Act being championed by the Trump administration and a 2025 executive order aimed at reducing political barriers in banking access, are creating a more receptive regulatory environment for Ripple's final authorization.
