Ripple’s Bank Charter Hangs on CLARITY Act as White House Sets March 1 Deadline—CEO Eyes $1 Trillion Prize

Ripple stands at the most consequential regulatory inflection point in its history. The company holds conditional OCC approval for a national trust bank charter—pending final sign-off—while the CLARITY Act, stalled since January with over 130 amendments, faces a White House-imposed March 1 deadline for banking and crypto industry consensus.

Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty described recent negotiations as “productive” and urged the industry to move “while the window is still open.” CEO Brad Garlinghouse, fresh from a $4 billion acquisition spree in 2025, has publicly set a $1 trillion valuation target, declaring XRP the company’s “North Star.” For XRP holders, the legislative calendar is no longer background noise; it is the primary price catalyst.

The Conditional Charter: Ripple’s OCC Milestone and Its Limits

On December 12, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency quietly published a list that would reshape Ripple’s institutional trajectory. Among five conditional approvals for national trust bank charters was Ripple National Trust Bank, placing the company alongside Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.

The distinction matters. This is not a full banking license. Ripple National Trust Bank cannot solicit deposits, offer checking accounts, or access FDIC insurance. What it can do is custody fiat and crypto assets under a federal framework, manage stablecoin reserves, and—crucially—apply for a Federal Reserve master account.

That final piece is the true prize. A master account would allow Ripple to plug RLUSD reserves directly into FedWire and FedNow, embedding the stablecoin within core U.S. payment infrastructure and virtually eliminating counterparty risk. The application is pending. Final approval of the charter itself remains conditional on capital requirements, policy adoption, and other preopening standards.

Ripple is not a bank. But it is closer than any crypto-native firm has ever come.

The CLARITY Act: What It Actually Does for XRP

The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is not stablecoin legislation. That is the GENIUS Act. The CLARITY Act addresses the structural question that has haunted Ripple since 2020: what is XRP?

The bill defines a new category of “network tokens”—digital assets that power decentralized systems and have been approved for U.S. exchange-traded products. Under this framework, tokens meeting those criteria are explicitly classified as non-securities by statute. XRP qualifies. Solana, Litecoin, Hedera, Dogecoin, and Chainlink would likely qualify as well.

This is not an SEC settlement or a court ruling. It is statutory codification. It would render the Howey Test irrelevant for covered assets and permanently end the jurisdictional ping-pong between the SEC and CFTC that has defined XRP’s regulatory existence.

For institutional investors still restricted by compliance policies written during the 2020 lawsuit, this is the unlock.

The Stall: 130 Amendments and Coinbase’s Withdrawal

The bill was scheduled for Senate Banking Committee markup on January 15, 2026. It was abruptly postponed.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong withdrew support, citing multiple provisions in the revised Senate draft. His concerns included a de facto ban on tokenized equities, new DeFi restrictions expanding government data access, a regulatory power shift from the CFTC to the SEC, and—most contentiously—a prohibition on crypto firms paying interest on stablecoin holdings.

Banking industry representatives had pushed hard for the stablecoin yield ban, arguing that yield-bearing products would trigger deposit outflows from traditional banks. Armstrong’s withdrawal handed them a tactical victory while delaying the broader market structure bill.

The markup now carries over 130 pending amendments. No new date has been set. But the White House has inserted itself into the negotiation, and a March 1 deadline has been reported as the target for banks and crypto firms to reach consensus.

‘While the Window Is Open’: Stuart Alderoty at the White House

On February 10, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty walked out of a White House meeting and posted a statement that ricocheted through XRP communities.

“Productive session at the White House today — compromise is in the air,” Alderoty wrote. “Clear, bipartisan momentum remains behind sensible crypto market structure legislation. We should move now — while the window is still open — and deliver a real win for consumers and America”.

The phrasing was carefully chosen. Alderoty did not claim victory. He did not announce a deal. He signaled that progress is real and that the alternative—letting the window close—could mean waiting through the 2026 midterms and beyond.

Coinbase’s Paul Grewal, who attended the same session, added that “crypto showed up ready to work, and we all made progress”. The public posture of the two largest U.S. crypto firms is now aligned. Whether that alignment translates into legislative text by March 1 is the open variable.

The $1 Trillion Ambition: Garlinghouse’s XRP-Centered Vision

While lawyers negotiate in Washington, the CEO is speaking directly to the community that has waited years for this moment.

Brad Garlinghouse, addressing XRP Community Day via X, declared that Ripple has the opportunity to become a trillion-dollar company. “There will be a trillion-dollar crypto company, I don’t doubt that for a second,” he said. “I think Ripple has the opportunity, if we do things well in partnership with the overall XRP ecosystem, to be that company”.

The math is steep. Ripple was valued at approximately $40 billion in its November 2025 funding round. A trillion-dollar valuation requires 25x growth. But Garlinghouse was not offering a forecast; he was articulating a thesis.

More important was his framing of** **XRP itself. “XRP is the North Star for Ripple,” he said. “It’s our purpose. Ripple’s reason for existence is driving success around XRP and the XRP ecosystem”.

This is not marketing copy. Garlinghouse was drawing a clear line from the $4 billion acquisition spree of 2025—Hidden Road ($1.25B), GTreasury ($1B), Rail ($200M), Palisade (undisclosed)—to the token that critics have long claimed Ripple would eventually abandon. His message: every product, from Ripple Payments to RLUSD to Ripple Prime, is in service of XRP utility.

Key Numbers: Ripple’s Regulatory and Financial Scorecard

The $1.37 Floor: XRP’s Price Compression and Institutional Flow

The regulatory story is constructive. The price story is not.

XRP traded at $1.37 on February 13, 2026, down more than 60% from its 2025 all-time high of $3.56. It has been compressing between $1.00 and $1.50 for weeks, a range analysts describe as a decision point for the next major move.

Yet institutional flows tell a different story. XRP ETFs absorbed $483 million in December alone, contributing to $1.3 billion in total inflows since their November launch. This was the fastest altcoin ETF adoption on record.

The divergence is instructive. Institutions accumulated through the downturn while retail sold. The flow catalyst is working, but its price impact is delayed. This is not unusual; ETF inflows in Bitcoin took months to translate into price appreciation. What matters is that the infrastructure for institutional participation is now in place, waiting for the regulatory signal.

RLUSD on Binance: Utility Expansion or ‘Sell the News’?

On February 11, Binance completed integration of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, following a prior Ethereum listing. Trading volume surged 135% post-announcement. RLUSD market capitalization now stands at $1.5 billion.

The listing is a significant liquidity event. Binance is the world’s largest exchange, and XRP Ledger-based stablecoin access creates a new utility layer for XRP holders. But stablecoin volume is not XRP demand. RLUSD is a dollar proxy, not a speculative asset. Its success is measured in settlement activity, not price appreciation.

The risk, as one analysis noted, is that the Binance listing drives short-term volume without generating the sustained network activity needed to support a higher XRP valuation. Without real-world adoption for payments and DeFi, regulatory hype fades and price action reverts to broader market sentiment.

March 1: What Happens If the Deadline Hits—or Misses

The reported White House deadline creates a defined binary for traders and institutions alike.

If an agreement is reached and the CLARITY Act markup proceeds, the path to mid-2026 passage becomes visible. XRP’s non-security status would be codified. The conditional charter would move toward final approval. The Fed master account application would gain momentum.

If the deadline passes without consensus, the bill slips into the broader 2026 legislative calendar, competing with appropriations, midterm election positioning, and an ever-shrinking window of bipartisan focus. The institutional capital waiting for regulatory clarity will continue waiting. XRP remains range-bound.

Four Takeaways for XRP Holders

The charter is conditional, not final. OCC approval is a milestone, not a finish line. Capital requirements and Fed account approval remain outstanding.

The CLARITY Act is the unlock. ETF inflows prove institutions want exposure. The bill is the gate.

Garlinghouse has committed the balance sheet. $4 billion in acquisitions is not a hedge; it is infrastructure built specifically to drive XRP utility.

Price and adoption are currently decoupled. This is uncomfortable but not unprecedented. The decoupling resolves when regulation catches up to infrastructure.

Ripple in February 2026 is a study in controlled tension. The charter is approved but not final. The bill is stalled but not dead. The CEO is selling trillion-dollar vision while the token trades 60% below its peak. Institutions are accumulating while retail capitulates.

None of these contradictions are fatal. They are the natural state of a company that has spent six years litigating its existence and is now negotiating its integration. The March 1 deadline is not magic. It is a forcing mechanism—a moment when the industry either proves it can legislate or proves it cannot.

XRP holders have waited longer than this. They can wait a few more weeks. What matters is that for the first time since 2020, the waiting has a defined endpoint. The window is open. The question is whether the industry moves through it before it closes.