Ripple’s march to full banking status is one of the biggest talking points among members of the XRP community, with some analysts and enthusiasts asking whether the regulatory milestone could serve as the factor that pushes XRP into price territory it has never previously reached. The company’s balance sheet, its growing institutional presence, and XRPL-native infrastructure developments are combining to project bold predictions, including a target of $25 per coin.
Ripple’s Banking Approval Is Important
In December 2025, Ripple received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national bank charter, which is a milestone no other crypto-native company had achieved. The charter is designed to clear the way for Ripple National Trust Bank, which will custody and manage reserves for Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin.
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A viral claim on the social media platform X from XRP enthusiast account KingXRP describes Ripple as having “officially obtained a banking license,” with its valuation pushed above $120 billion. That sentencing captures the excitement around the development, but it leaves out important context.
The OCC conditionally approved Ripple’s application to establish Ripple National Trust Bank. However, Ripple has also applied for a Federal Reserve master account, which would allow the trust bank to plug directly into FedWire and FedNow systems and hold dollar reserves at the central bank. That access, if granted, would place Ripple inside the core infrastructure of the US payments system.
What XRP Would Need To Reach $25
Ripple’s last widely reported private valuation was around $40 billion following a $500 million strategic investment round. However, Ripple does own an estimated 42 billion XRP on its balance sheet. Around 4.5 billion to 6.4 billion XRP are held directly in company wallets, while roughly 33 billion XRP are locked in cryptographic escrow accounts. If Ripple is in possession of 40 billion XRP and the price returns to trading at $3, those holdings alone would be worth about $120 billion on paper.
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A move to $25 would require XRP to become far more than an asset responding to headlines, and its banking approval would need to feed into a much broader adoption cycle. At a current circulating supply of about 61.9 billion XRP, a $25 price would place its market value above $1.5 trillion. According to KingXRP, if XRP moves beyond $25, Ripple’s balance sheet alone could surpass $240 billion, potentially placing the company among the top 10 banks globally.
Speaking of the banking approval feeding into a broader adoption cycle, infrastructure is being built on top of the XRP Ledger. One of the more concrete developments involves RealFi Payment Solutions, which recently announced that it has officially partnered with Shopify to develop the first XRP Ledger-powered payment rewards application for global e-commerce.
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
