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The crypto industry took a significant step deeper into the traditional financial system on Wednesday after Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-chartered digital asset bank, was granted a Federal Reserve (Fed) master account. According to one expert, Ripple may follow suit.
The approval makes Kraken Financial the first crypto-focused bank in US history to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment infrastructure, a development many see as a landmark moment for the sector.
With a master account, Kraken Financial can connect directly to the Fed’s payment rails rather than relying on intermediary banks to process transactions. Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the milestone marks “the convergence of crypto infrastructure and sovereign financial rails,” adding that with a Federal Reserve master account, the firm can operate as a directly connected financial institution rather than a peripheral participant.
The announcement prompted discussion about which crypto firms might pursue similar access. Market expert Paul Barron argued that Kraken’s approval has effectively “bridged a gap” between crypto companies and the traditional banking establishment.
Barron said Kraken is no longer operating on the outskirts of the system, but instead sits on the same Fedwire infrastructure used by major financial institutions such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.
Barron suggested Ripple could be next. He pointed to Ripple’s National Trust Bank charter, granted in December 2025, as a foundational step toward eventual Federal Reserve access.
In Barron’s view, direct access to a master account would be the final component needed for Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, to settle transactions at full banking scale.
Barron also referenced growing legislative momentum around the CLARITY Act, arguing that regulatory developments in Washington may be increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to integrate qualified crypto institutions more fully into the financial system.
Ripple executives have previously discussed the strategic value of direct Federal Reserve access. In November 2025, Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s CLO, described the concept as “an attractive idea” in an interview with Reuters.
Other crypto-focused institutions, including federally chartered Anchorage Digital, have also applied for Federal Reserve master accounts but have not yet received approval.
The daily chart showed XRP’s Wednesday recovery beyond $1.40. As of this writing, XRP was trading at $1.45, up 6% amid a wider crypto market recovery that began early on Wednesday with Bitcoin’s (BTC) lead.
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