XRP's Three Fronts: A Ledger Fix, a Custody Win and a Legislative Logjam
Published on 11/05/2026 at 11:01 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Ripple's regulatory ambitions and the XRP Ledger's technical housekeeping rarely share a headline, but this week they arrived together — and they tell very different stories. The network activated a fix for a permissions flaw, BNY added XRP and RLUSD to its custody platform, and Ripple's national trust bank application cleared a procedural step at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. None of that, however, resolves the legislative question Brad Garlinghouse spent the week defending.
A permissions hole, closed
The amendment fixCleanup3_4_0 went live yesterday, sealing a gap that let accounts with restricted token rights punch above their weight. Under the old rules, an account authorized only to burn issued tokens could, in certain circumstances, mint new ones as well. The change draws a firm line between the two powers: permission to destroy should never imply permission to create.
The same update carries corrections to how the ledger books entries in so-called vaults, along with other network functions. For holders, the takeaway is a shipped technical repair rather than a pending activation. XRP changed hands at 1.32 USD, up 1.2% on the day — a move that coincided with the news but cannot be attributed to it on the evidence available.
Custody and charter: the institutional track
Separately from the code, Ripple's regulated footprint widened. BNY expanded its custody platform on October 27 to include XRP and RLUSD — an offering from BNY itself, not a Ripple product. On the supervisory side, the OCC validated the application of Ripple National Trust Bank on Tuesday, following Ripple's announcement of final approval on October 26. The sanctioned activities cover management of the RLUSD reserves and fiduciary custody of digital assets.
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These are regulated services, not network permissions — a distinction worth keeping straight. The ledger patch governs what accounts may do inside the protocol; the trust bank charter governs what a supervised institution may do for clients.
Fund flows: a mixed signal
Demand through listed products cut the other way. US spot XRP ETFs recorded net outflows of 529,510 USD on Monday, according to media reports, a sharp reversal from October's 18.83 million USD in net inflows — the seventh consecutive positive month. Short-term withdrawals against a longer monthly streak means technical progress and capital movement deserve separate scorecards: the amendment repairs network functions, while ETF flows show whether money is entering or leaving XRP through those vehicles.
Garlinghouse pushes back on the political read
Ripple's chief executive, meanwhile, rejected the notion that the Democratic sweep is straightforwardly bad for crypto. In a post on X, Garlinghouse pointed to crypto-friendly lawmakers elected on both sides of the aisle and noted that more than 67 million Americans use cryptocurrencies — a constituency, he argued, that will not simply vanish. A clear legal framework for digital assets remains the goal for the incoming Congress.
Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty highlighted wins by candidates backed by the Fairshake crypto action committee and cited early readouts from Stand With Crypto. Those ratings are neither official nor complete, so they offer a political mood reading rather than proof of future legislative majorities. Ripple intends to keep funding its political engagement and education efforts through groups such as the National Cryptocurrency Association — a bet on cross-party alliances rather than a retreat from Washington.
The skeptical counterweight
TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg sees far less room to maneuver. In his view, market-structure legislation such as the CLARITY Act is unlikely to advance over the next two years, and potential investigations into Trump's crypto dealings could further complicate a industry-friendly bill. The CLARITY Act failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate on September 15 — not a final vote on the measure. Absent a revival, the draft lapses on January 3, 2027, and an expert surveyed by CNBC considers passage in the remaining session unlikely.
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The disagreement is less about ends than about timing. Garlinghouse counts supporters; Seiberg sees conflicts that could block agreement even where individual lawmakers are sympathetic. A stalled Congress does not idle the regulators, either — Seiberg expects continued activity from the SEC and CFTC regardless of Capitol Hill.
An alternative draft, and what it means for XRP
House Democrats are weighing their own market-structure proposal, according to Bitcoin Magazine, one that could hand the SEC more authority and the CFTC less. Ethics rules covering crypto dealings by Trump and other officials are also under discussion. No official draft exists yet.
For XRP, the upshot is regulatory uncertainty rather than any concrete new restriction. The debate concerns jurisdiction and oversight of the crypto market, and nothing in the current deliberations yields a specific new requirement for the token. Garlinghouse's optimism is a political stance, not a guarantee of imminent breakthrough; whether Ripple and its peers can convert cross-party contacts into durable majorities is the open question. Until then, a commitment to clear rules sits alongside serious doubts about the calendar.
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