Ripple is seeking a Federal Reserve master account, a move that could give the blockchain payments firm direct access to the central bank's payment rails. The Fed is currently considering rolling out 'skinny' master accounts for crypto companies — a potential first. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said this week that more than 30% of Ripple Treasury's $13 trillion could move on-chain by 2031.
What a master account unlocks
A Fed master account would let Ripple hold RLUSD backing balances directly with the central bank, eliminating counterparty risk from commercial bank intermediaries. It would also grant access to FedNow and the Fedwire funds service. Crypto pundit Vincent Van Code speculated that such an account could let Ripple keep its stablecoin reserves with the Fed without relying on a correspondent bank — a setup he called 'the holy grail' for issuer trust.
Garlinghouse's $13 trillion on-chain vision
Garlinghouse's prediction hinges on Ripple's treasury management platform, which already integrates XRP, RLUSD, and fiat on a single dashboard. American Airlines is a client, using the system for faster, cheaper cross-border payments. If Ripple's own treasury moves even a fraction of that $13 trillion on-chain, it would massively boost demand for XRP and RLUSD — and turn Ripple into a central counterparty for corporate treasuries.
The $80 XRP price speculation
Van Code took Garlinghouse's prediction and ran with it. He suggested that a Fed master account combined with $13 trillion in on-chain treasury volume could push XRP to $80 by 2032. That's a 58x from today's $1.38 price — but it's pure extrapolation. The math assumes XRP captures a huge share of that treasury flow, which is far from certain. Still, the speculation highlights how much the market is reading into the Fed's next move.
What the Fed decides next
The Fed hasn't approved anything yet. It's still weighing the skinny master account framework, and Ripple's application is just one of several. No timeline has been set. For now, the company has to wait — and keep building its treasury business while the central bank deliberates.
