By Niket Nishant (Reuters) -Crypto firm Ripple is applying for a national bank charter in the United States, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, following a similar move by stablecoin giant Circle.

Ripple has applied for a national banking license, joining the rush of cryptocurrency companies seeking to cross the divide into mainstream finance. Ripple, which manages cross-border payments and a dollar-backed stablecoin called RLUSD,

Blockchain tech and crypto payments company Ripple applied for a banking license from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on July 2, the Wall Street Journal reported. This is a developing story. Please keep refreshing for updates.