Crypto pundit XRP Queen has described an XRP price target of $10 as being too low, claiming that this target was from a retail investor’s perspective. She also suggested how high the altcoin could go from an institutional standpoint. 

Pundit Claims XRP Price Target Of $10 Is Too Low

In an X post, XRP Queen stated that people predicting XRP price targets of between $10 and $25 are still thinking of retail price targets. This came as she claimed that Ripple has been thinking about global infrastructures. The pundit highlighted the firm’s moves, including its acquisition of payment and custody infrastructure. 

Furthermore, XRP Queen noted that Ripple has integrated with banks, funds, and institutions, which she claimed is positioning the altcoin for real-time global settlement. The pundit also believes that the crypto firm has secured regulatory clarity where it actually matters, which is bullish for the XRP price. Lastly, she mentioned that Ripple is actively pursuing a full banking license, having secured conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). 

XRP Queen declared that Ripple’s moves are how one builds financial plumbing. “Systems don’t move in pennies. They move in orders of magnitude. Lock in,” she added. Regarding how high the XRP price could rise based on institutional targets, XRP Queen suggested the altcoin could reach $100. 

In an X post, she stated that people laugh at an XRP price target of $100 because they price it like a meme, but that institutions price the altcoin like infrastructure. As such, she believes the altcoin could reach these price targets based on its utility, especially as it gains traction as a token for real-time global settlement. 

Canary Capital CEO Makes Bullish Case For XRP

In a YouTube video, crypto pundit Cheeky Crypto highlighted a statement from Canary Capital’s CEO, Steven McClurg, in which he said that an XRP price target of between $5 and $10 may sound like a lot to a retail trader. However, he believes that these price targets are a rounding error when one considers the trillions of dollars in liquidity required to settle global real-world assets (RWAs) at scale. 

Cheeky Crypto also highlighted McClurg’s statement, in which he said the XRP Ledger is already processing real financial transactions and boasts real-world financial use cases, which he claims are drawing institutions’ attention. 

Notably, the Canary Capital CEO had recently predicted that XRP would dominate the RWA industry, which is projected to become a trillion-dollar industry at some point. This could boost the altcoin’s utility as the XRP Ledger processes more RWA transactions, sending the XRP price higher in the process.  

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.95, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Pakistan has partnered with a company affiliated with Trump-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI) to explore innovation in digital finance and the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions.

Pakistan To Explore USD1 For Cross-Border Payments

On Wednesday, Pakistan announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a crypto firm linked to the Trump Family’s main crypto business, World Liberty Financial.

According to a report by Reuters, the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) entered an agreement with SC Financial Technologies, a firm described as an affiliated entity of WLFI, to explore the use of its USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments.

The memorandum is set to enable “dialogue and technical understanding around emerging digital payment architectures,” and was announced during WLFI founder and CEO Zach Witkoff’s visit to Pakistan.

Notably, Witkoff is also the CEO of SC Financial Technologies, which co-owns the USD1 stablecoin brand alongside World Liberty Financial, according to documentation on the stablecoin’s reserves reviewed by the news media outlet.

Under the agreement, the WLFI-linked company will collaborate with Pakistan’s central bank to integrate its USD 1 stablecoin into a regulated digital payments structure. A source involved in the deal detailed that this would allow the token to operate alongside Pakistan’s own digital currency infrastructure.

It’s worth noting that PVARA officials have previously affirmed that the country will launch a national stablecoin as part of its strategy to modernize payments and support tokenized debt. Additionally, the central bank is developing a pilot for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

“Our focus is to stay ahead of the curve by engaging with credible global players, understanding new financial models, and ensuring that innovation, where explored, is aligned with regulation, stability, and national interest,” said Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.

WLFI Faces New Conflict Of Interest Concerns

The news comes as WLFI faces some scrutiny in the US. On Tuesday, US Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Jonathan Gould, pressing the agency to halt its review of the bank charter application submitted by the Trump-linked company.

On January 7, World Liberty Financial applied with the OCC to operate as a national trust bank purpose-built for stablecoin services in the US. The move is intended to facilitate the issuance of WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin. Moreover, it would allow the crypto company to provide custodial banking services and gain access to national payment networks under the OCC’s supervision.

The democratic senator cited fears she expressed in July, when she told newly appointed Jonathan Gould that “the OCC may soon be in the position where it has to review a stablecoin issuer application submitted by a company directly tied to President Trump and his family and to draft regulations that clearly influence the President’s finances.”

Unlike most of his predecessors, President Trump has not put his crypto ventures in a trust managed by an independent party, an October investigation stated, pointing out that instead, most of his businesses are owned by a revocable trust, of which he is the sole beneficiary, and managed by his son Donald Trump Jr.

According to the Tuesday letter, Warren’s concerns have gone from being “hypothetical,” as Gould reportedly called them, to being a reality. The senator argued that if the application is approved, the OCC would promulgate rules that “influence the profitability of the President’s company” and would also be responsible for “directly supervising and enforcing the law against the President’s company—and its competitors.”

Therefore, Warren requested that the OCC delay World Liberty Financial’s review until US President Donald Trump divests and eliminates all financial conflicts of interest involving himself or his family members and the company.

Bitcoin Magazine

Five Crypto Firms Win Conditional Approvals as National Trust Banks, Including Fidelity and BitGo

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted conditional approvals for five digital asset firms — Ripple, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, and Paxos — to become federally chartered national trust banks, marking a major milestone in the integration of cryptocurrency into traditional finance.

The approvals, announced Friday, allow the firms to convert from state-level trust charters to federal status, subject to meeting the OCC’s conditions. 

Once finalized, these institutions will join roughly 60 other national trust banks regulated by the OCC, gaining the ability to offer fiduciary and custody services nationwide. 

Unlike larger national banks, trust banks cannot accept cash deposits or make loans, but they can hold and manage customers’ digital assets.

‘Huge news’ for crypto

Circle, issuer of the $78 billion USDC stablecoin, said the charter would enhance the safety and regulatory oversight of its reserves while enabling fiduciary digital asset custody for institutional clients.

CEO Jeremy Allaire emphasized that the federal charter would provide “greater clarity and confidence” to institutions building on Circle’s platform as stablecoins gain mainstream adoption.

Paxos, known for PYUSD and the consortium-backed Global Dollar (USDG), said federal oversight would allow businesses to issue, custody, trade, and settle digital assets with clarity and confidence. 

The firm, which has operated under a New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) charter since 2015, first applied for a federal charter in 2020.

BitGo, a South Dakota–based crypto custodian, said the federal charter would allow it to expand services nationwide, including trading, staking, stablecoin, and treasury offerings for institutions. BitGo has also filed to go public, reporting $4.19 billion in revenue for the first half of 2025, up from $1.12 billion during the same period in 2024.

The approvals reflect a broader trend toward federal oversight of digital assets, coming after Anchorage Digital became the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S. Other firms, including Coinbase, Bridge (owned by Stripe), and Crypto.com, have also applied for federal charters.

OCC Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould emphasized that new entrants into the federal banking sector benefit consumers, foster competition, and promote innovation.

 “The OCC will continue to provide a path for both traditional and innovative approaches to financial services to ensure the federal banking system keeps pace with the evolution of finance and supports a modern economy,” Gould said.

This post Five Crypto Firms Win Conditional Approvals as National Trust Banks, Including Fidelity and BitGo first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

OCC Confirms Banks Can Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has clarified that national banks may engage in “riskless principal” transactions involving crypto-assets.

In its new Interpretive Letter 1188, the OCC explained that such transactions allow a bank to act as a principal between two customers, buying crypto from one while simultaneously selling it to another. 

The bank does not hold the assets in inventory, effectively serving as a broker acting on behalf of clients.

This guidance follows a broader regulatory trend to ease restrictions on crypto activities within the traditional banking sector. In March, the OCC removed prior requirements for banks to seek advance approval before engaging in certain crypto operations, signaling growing acceptance of digital assets in mainstream finance.

In other words, U.S. banks can now offer crypto services in a manner similar to traditional brokerage activities. 

Last week, Bank of America announced it would allow wealth management clients to allocate 1%–4% of their portfolios to digital assets.

The guidance applied across Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank, and Merrill Edge, enabling more than 15,000 advisers—previously restricted—to recommend crypto proactively. 

Also, earlier today, PNC Bank became the first major U.S. bank to offer eligible Private Bank clients direct bitcoin trading through its own platform, powered by Coinbase’s infrastructure. The service allowed qualified clients to buy, hold, and sell bitcoin without using an external exchange. 

The launch followed a strategic partnership with Coinbase announced in July.

Full OCC letter details

In essence, the letter basically confirmed that national banks may engage in ‘riskless principal transactions’ in crypto-assets. 

Per the letter, a riskless principal transaction occurs when a bank buys an asset from one counterparty with the simultaneous agreement to sell it immediately to another, without holding the asset in inventory except in rare cases like settlement failures. 

In this role, the bank functions similarly to a broker, taking on limited settlement, market, and credit risk.

The letter made a distinction between crypto-assets that are securities and those that are not. Riskless principal transactions in crypto-assets classified as securities are already permissible under existing law, as the bank acts without recourse, meaning it does not assume customer risk.

The OCC extends this reasoning to crypto-assets that are not securities, framing the activity as part of the broader “business of banking.” 

Under U.S. law, the business of banking is not narrowly defined, allowing banks to engage in new activities that logically extend their traditional functions.

The OCC analyzed the activity using four factors: its similarity to recognized banking activities, its benefit to banks and customers, the nature of the risks involved, and whether state-chartered banks are authorized to perform it. 

Riskless principal crypto-asset transactions align with traditional brokerage and custody services, benefit customers by providing regulated access to crypto-assets, and carry risks familiar to banks, such as settlement risk. 

State regulatory frameworks do not prohibit similar activity, supporting the federal permissibility.

This post OCC Confirms Banks Can Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.