Ripple CEO Calls for Parity in Treatment of TradFi, Crypto Companies

Why It Matters

If granted, charters could bring greater regulatory clarity and stability to crypto firms but also intensify industry clashes over access to the financial system.

Summary

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse urged regulators and the press to hold crypto firms to the same AML, KYC and sanctions standards as banks while granting them equivalent access to banking infrastructure such as Fed master accounts, as Ripple awaits an OCC decision on its national bank charter application. His comments come amid a broader push by crypto firms—including Circle and Coinbase—for bank-like charters, and opposition from US banking groups that have asked the OCC to delay charter approvals. The OCC’s recent approval of a charter for Peter Thiel-backed Erebor underscores the shifting regulatory landscape and the potential for charters to expand banking services to crypto firms. If granted, charters could bring greater regulatory clarity and stability to crypto firms but also intensify industry clashes over access to the financial system.