Caitlin Long, the CEO of Wyoming-chartered Custodia Bank, delivered a stark assessment of crypto’s path to the Federal Reserve’s rails, arguing that firms operating under trust charters—including Ripple—will not be granted direct access to the Fed’s payment system unless they become true depository institutions.

“Stablecoin issuers are not legally depository institutions,” she said . “To be able to use Fedwire and ACH, the Fed has taken the position that you have to be a depository institution… A trust company by law is prohibited from accepting a US dollar deposit.” She added that while some trust companies have historically had limited master-account arrangements, it was “not for moving money in the payment system,” and the key prize—“the par guarantee”—belongs to banks alone. “You’ve

See Full Page