XRP Eyes Bigger US Payments Role Amid Fed Access Talks

Key Takeaways:

• Evernorth’s CEO said limited Fed account access could reshape stablecoin settlement infrastructure.
• XRP could serve as a dollar movement rail after Federal Reserve settlement occurs.
• Regulatory proposals and Evernorth’s $1 billion raise add a public-market layer to the XRP strategy.

Federal Reserve Access Debate Shapes Stablecoin Role

A policy discussion shared April 30 by Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla on social media platform X linked XRP to a potential shift in U.S. payment infrastructure. Evernorth is building a public XRP treasury model for institutional exposure. Birla’s thread focused on whether certain stablecoin issuers could gain limited access to Federal Reserve accounts, creating a new role for XRP in dollar movement.

The Evernorth executive framed the issue around access to core settlement infrastructure. The proposal would allow certain federally chartered stablecoin issuers to open a narrower version of a Federal Reserve master account. He wrote:

“A ‘master account’ at the Fed is the top of the payments plumbing. It provides direct access to settle dollars at the source. Today, only banks have it. Every payment app routes through a bank to touch it.”

Birla also cited regulatory activity, including a Federal Reserve staff note, an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposal, and a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposal. The March 30 Federal Reserve staff note examined how payment stablecoins could reduce frictions in cross-border transfers. It described a model where funds are converted into stablecoins, moved more directly, and later exchanged into local currency. The note said adoption would depend on regulation, technology, and conversion costs. Separately, the FDIC said April 7 that its board approved a proposed rule to implement GENIUS Act standards covering reserve assets, redemption, capital, risk management, custody, and safekeeping for permitted payment stablecoin issuers.

XRP Positioned as Movement Layer in Payment Stack

For XRP, the central issue is where movement happens after settlement access is granted. In Birla’s framing, qualifying stablecoin issuers would still settle through the Federal Reserve. XRP would not replace that settlement layer. Its possible role would be moving dollars through the payments stack once regulated stablecoin infrastructure connects more directly with bank accounts.

The Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin example sharpened that point. “RLUSD is issued by Ripple’s New York-regulated trust company. That regulatory profile is close to what a skinny master account contemplates,” the Evernorth executive explained, adding:

“If the proposal advances and RLUSD qualifies, settlement still happens at the Fed. But XRP becomes a movement rail for dollars inside the US payments stack.”

The claim remains conditional, but it places XRP in the operating layer of a potential stablecoin-based payment structure.

Evernorth adds a public-market angle to the same XRP theme. The company filed a Form S-4 registration statement on March 18 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its proposed business combination with Armada Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: XRPN). Evernorth said it is building regulated, transparent XRP exposure through an actively managed treasury strategy. The company has raised more than $1 billion in gross proceeds and expects to become a publicly traded XRP treasury company on Nasdaq if the deal closes.