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Key Takeaways
- Ripple was named to Fortune’s 2026 list of top 15 Web3 financial infrastructure firms, joining Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fireblocks on a ranking focused on tokenization, stablecoins, custody, and compliance.
- Ripple submitted a formal response to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force on May 22, proposing a 0% haircut for qualifying payment stablecoins, a new “Qualified Payment Stablecoins” category, and SEC recognition of on-chain registries as the sole legal record of ownership.
- The Digital Chamber pushed back against Senator Elizabeth Warren’s criticism of national trust charters, defending regulatory treatment granted to Ripple, Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, and BitGo.
Ripple has been named to Fortune’s list of top 15 Web3 firms building global financial infrastructure for 2026, alongside Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fireblocks. The company also announced it earned a spot on Fortune’s 2026 Best Workplaces in the Bay Area ranking.
Fortune’s 2026 Web3 List Focuses on Infrastructure Over Speculative Trading
Fortune’s broader Web3 rankings included Coinbase, Blockchain.com, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fireblocks, among others, alongside Ripple. The list featured firms focused on tokenization, stablecoins, custody, and compliance.
Fortune noted that crypto custody firms BitGo, Anchorage Digital, and Fireblocks are expanding regulated custodian services for institutional clients, enabling banks and fintech firms to transfer and store digital assets.
Fortune identified Circle, Paxos, and Zero Hash as stablecoin issuers building payment platforms that link banks and other financial institutions to blockchain networks for cross-border settlements. Ondo Finance and Securitize were highlighted as key players in tokenizing real-world assets including bonds, treasuries, and private credit on blockchain networks.
Ripple Files Formal Response to SEC Crypto Task Force on May 22
Ripple submitted a formal written response to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force on May 22, following up on a March 20 meeting that included Commissioner Hester Peirce and Task Force staff. The letter laid out five specific regulatory proposals spanning stablecoin capital treatment, customer protection rules, digital asset non-securities classification, and the legal status of on-chain ownership registries, according to the filing published on the SEC’s website.
On stablecoin capital treatment, Ripple argued that the SEC’s existing 2% haircut for qualifying payment stablecoins is “disproportionate to the risk” and proposed a 0% haircut in cases where a broker-dealer has a direct mint-burn relationship with the issuer.
The letter also proposed a new “Qualified Payment Stablecoins” category under Rule 15c3-3 and asked the SEC to extend non-securities treatment to digital commodities beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
On tokenized securities ownership, Ripple urged the SEC to recognize on-chain registries maintained by regulated digital transfer agents as the sole legal record of ownership, arguing that parallel on-chain and off-chain registries create what the company called “dual-registry ambiguity” that could generate legal uncertainty over ownership during periods of market stress.
Digital Chamber Pushes Back on Senator Warren’s National Trust Charter Criticism
The broader crypto industry faced criticism from Senator Elizabeth Warren over national trust charters issued to digital asset firms. The Digital Chamber rejected claims that firms including Ripple, Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, and BitGo received improper regulatory treatment, arguing that regulators followed existing banking frameworks when granting approvals.
Ripple’s inclusion on Fortune’s Web3 infrastructure list came in the same week the company submitted its formal SEC Task Force response. The company also announced it earned a spot on Fortune’s 2026 Best Workplaces in the Bay Area ranking, which it described on X as a “Best in the Bay” achievement.
