Moody's Gives Ripple's RLUSD an A2 Rating as Federal Bank Oversight Nears

By Coinvote

Published October 28, 2026 - 15:21 UTC | 5 mins read

Moody's Ratings has assigned Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin an A2 long-term and P-1 short-term deposit rating, one day after the OCC finalized approval of Ripple National Trust Bank. The agency praised the reserves but flagged that holders still lack a direct claim on them.

Moody's rates RLUSD in investment-grade territory

Moody's Ratings said on Tuesday that it rated Ripple USD (RLUSD) A2 for long-term deposits and P-1 for short-term deposits, Decrypt reported. The stablecoin is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a Ripple subsidiary. Moody's said the issuer requested the ratings.

The Block described the grades as investment-grade and said Moody's pointed to the credit quality and market value of the reserve assets. The Defiant added that the ratings cover native RLUSD on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. It also said the agency weighed the reserve safeguards against holders' exposure to an issuer bankruptcy.

What the grades and the reserve mix tell holders

According to Decrypt, A2 is the sixth-highest grade on Moody's long-term scale, and P-1 is the top short-term grade. The agency tied the result to the way RLUSD is backed. Most reserve assets are Treasury bills, other brief-maturity U.S. government holdings and cash, and BNY holds most of it as custodian.

Institutional holders who are eligible may redeem RLUSD one-for-one within two business days. That redemption right does not extend to every holder. A credit rating is an opinion on the issuer's ability to meet obligations, not a guarantee that a token will hold its peg on every exchange at every moment.

The numbers behind the rating

The figures below come from Decrypt's two reports, with the market capitalization attributed by Decrypt to CoinGecko.

Ratings: A2 long-term and P-1 short-term deposit ratings from Moody's.
Market capitalization: about $2.6 billion, within a stablecoin market Decrypt put at some $300 billion.
Launch: December 2024, on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger.
Redemption: at par within two business days for eligible institutional holders.
Legal backdrop: the GENIUS Act, the U.S. stablecoin law, is due to take effect in 2027.

A federal trust bank arrived a day earlier

Ripple said on Monday that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, according to a second Decrypt report. The OCC had conditionally approved Ripple's application in December 2025, alongside applications from Circle, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets and BitGo.

Once it opens, the bank will manage the segregated reserves behind RLUSD and act as collateral trustee for holders' benefit. It will also offer fiduciary custody to enterprises. RLUSD will still be issued by Standard Custody under New York Department of Financial Services oversight, so the token will sit under state and federal supervision at once.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse framed the approval as proof that crypto firms can work inside the banking system. In his words, "the revolution isn't happening outside the system. It's happening from within it."

Where the outlets agree and where Moody's sees gaps

Decrypt, The Block and The Defiant report the same two grades. They differ in depth and emphasis. The Block, working from a short summary, stresses the strength of the reserve assets. The Defiant stresses the trade-off between reserve safeguards and bankruptcy exposure. Neither summary lists the specific weaknesses Moody's identified.

Decrypt's full report supplies them. Moody's pointed out that Standard Custody is not structured to be insulated from its own bankruptcy, and that holders today lack direct ownership of the reserves. The agency added that, once the GENIUS Act takes effect in 2027, it will keep the reserves it requires out of an issuer's bankruptcy estate. Until then, the protection holders receive is weaker than the reserve quality alone would suggest.

Why institutions and Ethereum-based issuers are watching

Decrypt notes that Ripple has marketed RLUSD to institutional clients, not retail traders. Standard Chartered started providing institutional custody of the token through its Dubai branch earlier this month. The bank also described an arrangement it is developing with Ripple and LMAX Group, under which clients could pledge the stablecoin as trading collateral while it remains on the bank's books.

The token's growth has been steady but modest. In November 2025, Decrypt reported, RLUSD had just passed a $1 billion market cap and ranked as the 11th-largest stablecoin by DefiLlama. Part of its supply lives on Ethereum, where DefiLlama currently shows DeFi total value locked at $45.94 billion. Readers following tokens issued on that network can browse new Ethereum listings on Coinvote.

The charters themselves remain contested. Decrypt reported that Sen. Elizabeth Warren argued in a letter that the approvals violated the National Bank Act. The Independent Community Bankers of America filed a federal lawsuit against the OCC this month, while the Digital Chamber urged the agency to defend the approvals.

Open questions after the rating

The first question is timing. Ripple has said the bank will begin operations, but the reports do not give an opening date. Until it opens, reserve management and collateral trusteeship remain on paper.

The second is legal. The bankers' lawsuit and Warren's objections could affect how durable the charters prove to be. Neither outlet reports a ruling.

Holders and project teams evaluating the token can check three things in Ripple's own disclosures: who holds the reserves, what redemption terms apply to their category of holder, and how the GENIUS Act's 2027 start date changes the bankruptcy treatment Moody's flagged.

Market snapshot

Asset	Price	24h	7d	Market cap
Ethereum (ETH)	$2,334	+0.0%	-5.8%	$285.17 billion
XRP (XRP)	$1.31	-0.2%	-3.4%	$83.18 billion

CoinGecko data as of 2026-10-28 (UTC); DeFi TVL from DefiLlama: Ethereum $45.94 billion.

On Coinvote

New Ethereum Tokens Listed Today: 2,929 projects tracked, 3 new listings in 7 days, 10 community votes today.
Best Ethereum Meme Coins Today: 258 projects tracked, 2 new listings in 7 days, 1 community vote today.

FAQ

What rating did Moody's give Ripple's RLUSD?

Moody's Ratings rated RLUSD A2 for long-term deposits and P-1 for short-term deposits. According to Decrypt, A2 is the sixth-highest long-term grade and P-1 is the top short-term grade. The issuer requested the ratings.

Do RLUSD holders own the reserves directly?

Not at present, according to Moody's as reported by Decrypt. Standard Custody is not bankruptcy-remote, and holders do not directly own the reserves for now. The GENIUS Act, due to take effect in 2027, is set to shield the reserves it requires from an issuer's bankruptcy estate.

How does the OCC approval relate to the rating?

The OCC gave final approval to Ripple National Trust Bank on Monday, and Moody's announced the ratings a day later. The bank will manage RLUSD's reserves and act as collateral trustee once it opens, while Standard Custody remains the issuer under New York oversight.