By Niket Nishant (Reuters) -Crypto firm Ripple is applying for a national bank charter in the United States, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, following a similar move by stablecoin giant Circle.

“Ripple's timing is strategic, aligning its application with the Senate's progress on the GENIUS Act, which will define stablecoin regulation. By bringing RLUSD, the XRP ledger, and its liquidity services under one banking entity, Ripple could effectively cut out traditional intermediaries like SWIFT and correspondent banks,” Azizov explained.