Kraken Gains Fed Access: Could Ripple Follow With Its Own Master Account?

Kraken's Wyoming-chartered banking arm recently became the first crypto firm to secure direct access to the Federal Reserve's core payment systems via a master account, approved by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City after Kraken obtained an SPDI charter in 2020. This development has led analysts, including Paul Barron, to speculate that Ripple could be next, given that Ripple applied for a national trust bank charter and a Fed master account in July 2025, having already received conditional OCC approval for the charter in December. While Kraken's success sets a precedent, Ripple has not yet received full OCC approval, and the process could take years. If Ripple gains access, it would integrate them into the core US banking settlement system, potentially making their RLUSD stablecoin settlement more attractive to institutional clients by improving fiat on-ramps and off-ramps. However, the article cautions that the Fed's payment rails (FedWire/FedNow) and the XRP Ledger are separate systems, meaning any efficiency gains for XRP would be indirect, strengthening the company's infrastructure rather than directly upgrading the utility of the XRP asset itself.

(Source：BeInCrypto)