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As has became official, Kraken, through its banking subsidiary Kraken Financial, has become the first crypto company in history to gain access to the payment system of the U.S. Federal Reserve. This allows the crypto platform to work directly with the U.S. Central Bank, bypassing traditional commercial bank intermediaries. The approval has been granted for an initial trial period of one year.
According to Paul Barron, the next company that could receive a path to bank-scale settlement is Ripple and its RLUSD stablecoin.
Final piece for RLUSD, XRP and Ripple
As Barron argues, the case for this is that Ripple has already officially applied for a master account with the Federal Reserve. If the Kraken format proves successful, Ripple and Circle could become the next companies to receive direct access to the Fed’s payment rails, such as Fedwire and FedNow.
Barron believes Ripple could be next because Ripple’s National Trust Bank Charter was the setup, and it was obtained in December 2025. Direct Fed access would be the final piece for RLUSD to settle at bank scale. Also, for the Clarity Act, momentum is now in the Fed’s hands and the tide is shifting, says Barron. According to him, this is what insiders on the scene are seeing right now.
In fact, Ripple is the first crypto-native company with a federal banking charter. As for the Clarity Act, it has already passed the House of Representatives but is currently stalled in the Senate due to disputes over stablecoin yield provisions. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse estimates the probability of the law being adopted before the end of April 2026 at about 80%, meaning, within the next two months.
Whether the fact that Kraken received access to Fedwire makes the way for Ripple will likely become clear by April. If Kraken has already obtained it, then the first domino has fallen, and further developments could accelerate from there.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
