Ripple’s growing role in the Institutional financial world

Ripple firmly increased its activities including changes in its infrastructure, adding new products and partnerships with a growing number of institutional corporates. These initiatives are aimed to strengthen its position in the institutional world, to play a distinctive role and become a key player in this area.

In this blog we will drive you though the various initiatives made by Ripple in October to realise this goal. We will review some of the most important news, partnerships, and developments around the broader Ripple ecosystem, including the company’s ongoing effort to expand its regulatory and institutional footprint.

Ripple’s vision

Ripple’s vision for a decentralized future revolves around the XRP Ledger and the idea that XRP can play a foundational role in redefining financial systems worldwide. Ripple’s goal is to create a decentralised financial ecosystem that fosters interoperability,  efficiency,  and global inclusivity.

Ripple envisions XRP at the core of this decentralized future by leveraging its unique features to overcome the limitations of traditional financial systems, traditional cryptocurrencies, and emerging blockchain solutions. Ripple’s vision is for XRP to become a universal bridge asset that connects various digital currencies, traditional currencies, and blockchain-based systems.

This vision is increasingly visible in the various actions the company has brought about. Here follow the most recent ones.

• Ripple expands strategic digital assets partnership with BNY

Ripple and BNY, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, a global financial services company, announced an expansion of their strategic collaboration to broaden institutional digital asset custody capabilities and explore new institutional use cases for blockchain technology, including tokenized trade finance. The collaboration brings together Ripple’s digital asset solutions and the XRP Ledger, with BNY’s scale, servicing model and digital capabilities.

Building on BNY’s role as primary reserve custodian for Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, and its custody relationship with Ripple Prime, BNY now supports XRP, the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger, and RLUSD on its Digital Asset Custody platform. This market infrastructure will deliver connectivity across payments, liquidity, collateral and securities, driven by architected bridges between traditional scaled systems and always-on blockchain technology.

In collaboration with Ripple, BNY is working to shape a more continuous, efficient and resilient financial system, paving the way for broader institutional adoption.

• Ripple has announced a strategic partnership with Robinhood

Ripple has announced on October 27 a strategic partnership with Robinhood, one of the most well-known trading platforms in the United States. The companies will collaborate across several areas, including stablecoins, crypto trading, and financial management. This gives Ripple access to a platform with millions of customers.

A key component is the further distribution of Ripple USD (RLUSD), Ripple’s stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. RLUSD is already available via the Robinhood Chain and the crypto exchange Bitstamp. Later this year, the digital asset is also set to become available within the Robinhood app, allowing Ripple to reach a significantly larger audience. This will allow Robinhood to better organize aspects such as payments, liquidity, and financial forecasting. The system also assists in the settlement of cash flows between various business units.

Additionally, financing options and loans will become available for approximately twenty different cryptocurrencies. For Ripple, this agreement represents the integration of multiple business units into a major financial player.

• Ripple Wins Final OCC Approval for National Trust Bank

Ripple received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on October 26 to open a national trust bank, a charter that manages reserves for its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin but assigns no role to XRP. The company allowing the entity, named Ripple National Trust Bank (RNTB), to begin operating under federal OCC supervision. The charter specifically covers the dollar deposits, U.S. government securities, and cash equivalents that back RLUSD. RNTB will act as trustee over these reserves on behalf of RLUSD holders. The bank is limited to fiduciary functions. It will not take deposits or make loans.

Once operational, RNTB will manage the assets backing the RLUSD stablecoin, which will serve as collateral trustee of those reserves for the benefit of RLUSD holders, and offer fiduciary digital asset custody services to institutional clients. The national trust charter provides a stronger foundation for RLUSD and the institutional products the company is developing across payments, custody, and capital markets.

The approval could strengthen confidence in Ripple’s ability to serve institutional clients within the regulated financial system. Ripple’s banking approval provides a fresh regulatory development for the company’s institutional business. The approval reflects the company’s long-standing view that crypto and traditional banking work better together.

• Ripple announced partnership with Swiss based Arf

Ripple also announced on 22 October a partnership with Arf, a Swiss regulated working-capital company,  to bring RLUSD-backed settlement liquidity to the XRP ledger, expanding the blockchain’s role in cross-border payments and institutional lending. XRPL’s fast settlement capabilities and RLUSD’s regulated dollar infrastructure make the network suitable for institutional liquidity financing.

According to Arf’s official announcement, Arf and Ripple are bringing RLUSD-powered short-term working capital to licensed cross-border payment companies on the ledger. Cross-border payment companies often need substantial working capital to pre-fund transactions while waiting for payments to settle. Traditional bank financing can take months to arrange and require significant collateral. Arf’s payment finance model addresses this challenge by providing short-duration settlement liquidity. According to KuCoin, repayment is due within one to five days. RLUSD supplies the dollar-denominated capital, while XRP covers network transaction fees and reserve requirements.

In the first phase Arf will provide direct RLUSD settlement liquidity on the XRP ledger, to licensed cross-border payment companies, which draw funds while they wait for transfers to settle.  These short loans are typically repaid within one to five days as payments settle, so the same money can be reused. Arf plans to move more of this activity to the ledger’s own lending tools once they go live. These are single asset vaults, which pool money, and a lending protocol, which hands it out as loans.

• Standard Chartered adds Ripple USD custody

Ripple announced a big partnership with Standard Chartered. The bank has launched institutional custody support for Ripple’s native RLUSD stablecoin, with plans to expand its use as trading collateral.

The UK-based multinational bank has launched institutional custody in Dubai. Standard Chartered’s Dubai branch now provides custody services for RLUSD on the XRP Ledger. This gives eligible institutional clients to access to its digital asset custody infrastructure through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch, regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

The move is part of a broader arrangement with Ripple and the LMAX Group, an institutional trading company,  to use RLUSD as eligible collateral for institutional trading, that would allow clients to use RLUSD as trading collateral without transferring tokens from the bank’s custody, reducing exchange counterparty risk. The collaboration aims to improve operational efficiency and risk management for institutions using stablecoins in global markets

• Nasdaq-listed Ripple backed Evernorth debuted on Nasdaq

Ripple also expanded into the leveraged ETF market on Wall Street via Evernorth that debuted on Nasdaq in October. Evernorth is a Ripple-backed vehicle, holding about 473 million XRP.

The XRP-focused treasury company began trading on Nasdaq under the tracker XRPN. Entities like Evernorth are creating new avenues for gaining exposure to XRP through traditional financial markets. The company aims to generate earnings and increase holdings through institutional strategies. It plans to actively deploy the treasury with partners like Ripple, Kraken and Coinbase to generate yield to support investment strategies to deploy the millions of tokens into institutional strategies starting in Q4 2026.

The company plans a phased deployment into lending, credit markets and yield-generating DeFi strategies on the XRP ledger. The first phase involves institutional investment through established counterparties, with potential participation into XRP lending and credit markets later. The partnership aims to manage XRP investments with effective risk controls and oversight, enhancing institutional investment strategies.

• Ripple launched 24/7 RWA swaps on Hyperliquid Platform

Ripple Prime has launched 24/7 swaps on real-world assets (RWA) referencing over 100 traditional financial markets, using Trade.xyz’s perpetual contracts on the Hyperliquid Platform as price references. Hyperliquid Platform is a high-performance layer-1 blockchain, with an integrated decentralised exchange (DEX), most known for perpetual futures trading. It employs a central order book to complete trades, mirroring the approach taken by centralised exchanges.

The move aims to expand institutional access to blockchain-based derivatives tied to traditional assets outside conventional trading hours. The product, announced on Oct. 15, covers stocks, indices, ETFs, metals, energy and FX, using perpetual futures on the Hyperliquid platform, with Ripple Prime acting as principal counterparty.

The service uses cross-margining and accept RLUSD as collateral, operating under Ripple Prime’s BVI CIV license, thereby potentially reducing funding needs. Ripple’s risk disclosures cover collateral calls, basis risk and liquidity constraints. If successful, this could become a gateway for institutions to on-chain markets, with RLUSD gaining a new collateral use.

• Ripple signs Cross River Bank deal

Ripple has partnered with Cross River Bank to integrate its RLUSD stablecoin into the bank’s core operating platform, enabling fintech partners to access stablecoin transfers alongside traditional payment methods like ACH and wires through a single API.

The service, which runs on the XRP Ledger, aims to provide round-the-clock settlement and reduce delays. The integration enables instant payments, real-time settlement, and 24/7 cross-border services. The integration supports movements between dollars and RLUSD, including cross-border payments and treasury transfers around the clock. The development offers a concrete adoption milestone.

The partnership aims to expand stablecoin use in regulated environments and provide faster payment options for Cross River’s clients. The announcement comes as RLUSD’s market capitalization exceeds $2.5 billion, with more than $1 billion issued on the XRP Ledger. The stablecoin is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company.

• Ripple Prime launched Perpetual Swaps

Ripple Prime, the prime brokerage arm of Ripple, also expanded its institutional presence, by launching 24/7 perpetual swaps on traditional assets for its institutional clients, referencing perpetual futures listed by Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid, a crypto derivatives exchange. The launch extends Ripple Prime’s existing crypto perp offerings to traditional markets, providing round-the-clock risk management tools outside regular exchange hours.

Ripple Prime now enables institutional clients to trade swaps linked to more than 100 reference markets, with 24/7 cross margining across asset classes including equities, indices, ETFs, metals, energy, and forex, through its brokerage operations. The swaps allow leveraged trading of traditional assets without expiration. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin can be used as collateral, subject to jurisdiction. Clients benefit from cross-margining across asset classes through a single counterparty. Ripple Prime thereby serves as principal and clearing partner, operating under a CIV BVI license with plans for expansion.

• Ripple partnered with Drive Wealth

Ripple has partnered with brokerage platform Drive Wealth to use its RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger to integrate stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments, and digital asset custody into its platform, starting with Europe and later expanding to the U.S.  to speed up global funding. This enables clients to fund collateral accounts with stablecoins that convert to cash in near real time. The brokerage technology provider, serving over 100 global partners, will use RLUSD for near real-time conversion of stablecoin deposits into cash, reducing reliance on bank wires, and will accept cross-border funds via Ripple Payments.

The deal also includes European digital asset custody and exploratory equity financing through Ripple Prime. The integration aims to keep clients’ capital working beyond traditional bank transfer hours.

• Ripple’s strategic partnership with Meritz Securities

Ripple has signed a strategic partnership with South Korea’s Meritz Securities to explore institutional cryptocurrency custody and asset tokenization in South Korea’ s capital markets, aiming to integrate RLUSD into brokerage settlement and custody. This marks Ripple’s fourth Korean financial partnership of 2026 and its first with a securities firm. The three earlier Korean partners—Kyobo Life, Kbank, and Jeonbuk Bank—each involve different use cases, from bond settlement to wallets and remittances.

It directly integrates the stablecoin into traditional finance workflows for securities and cross-border payments, moving beyond crypto-native use cases. The agreement will initially operate within existing securities regulations, with both companies evaluating Ripple custody and tokenization technology for Meritz’s capital markets operations. Meritz is considering several digital asset services, including spot ETFs, fractional investment, security tokens, trading platforms, and won-denominated stablecoins. If Meritz follows through, brokerage clients could see spot digital asset ETFs, fractional products, and STOs offered through a traditional securities firm.

• Ripple partnering with wallet infrastructure provider Privy

Ripple is also partnering with Stripe-owned wallet infrastructure provider Privy to bring XRP and RLUSD payment tools to apps. They have integrated XRP Ledger wallets into app development, allowing users to applications on the XRP Ledger via email or social login without seed phrases or browser extensions.

Privy will enable developers to create, manage, and sign transactions with XRPL wallets programmatically, supporting both consumer-facing fintech products with embedded wallets and server-side wallets for AI agent payments. The integration supports XRP, RLUSD stablecoin, and other assets issued on the XRP ledger, with policy controls to govern wallet permissions, with Ripple highlighting fast settlement and low transaction costs. This aims to simplify user onboarding and enhance security through trusted execution environments and key sharding.

• Ripple partnership with asset manager Brevan Howard

Ripple also made a new move on the institutional front, further strengthening its position in the institutional asset managing sector.  Ripple Prime is expanding its partnership with global asset manager Brevan Howard, which expanded its services for hedge funds and investment managers. The agreement comes as Ripple expands its prime brokerage business.

Ripple Prime will provide multi-asset prime brokerage, clearing, and financing services to Brevan Howard funds. The new agreement is particularly significant as a signal that Ripple is increasingly positioning itself beyond the realm of cryptocurrency alone.

• XRP network activates upgrade to give banks more control

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) that is already being used extensively for financial products has gained a new feature that gives financial institutions greater control over their network activities. The most significant technical development was the recent activation of PermissionDelegationV1_1. The upgrade is designed to make it safer for companies to manage large volumes of funds and tokens on the network. This is particularly relevant for parties wishing to segregate different tasks within an organization.

It allows an account owner to authorize another account to perform specific actions. Crucially, the primary keys of the main account do not need to be shared. This enables companies to keep these keys offline while other accounts handle day-to-day operations. Banks and stablecoin issuers can now assign specific tasks to separate accounts without sharing their primary access keys. For instance, a company could allow an operational account to execute payments while keeping the keys controlling major assets offline.

The feature aligns with existing banking workflows, where payments and compliance tasks are often handled by different employees or departments. The new feature makes it possible to manage these tasks separately on the XRP Ledger as well.

Forward looking

As digital and traditional markets become more interconnected, the need for institutional-quality digital asset infrastructure that enables a seamless experience for investors is only growing, Ripple is actively contributing to this, via the various partnerships, product innovations and other activities, enhancing its credentials as institutional-grade infrastructure for settlements and secured finance

Ripple’s partnerships put RLUSD settlement and custody services at the centre of its push into global investing infrastructure. They further embed RLUSD into institutional finance, making their stablecoin easier for financial businesses to access strengthening Ripple’s position in payments. And they will be used to increase institutional adoption of XRP by banks and other financial institutions.

If a success these activities could be bullish for XRP because they represent a structured, public market strategy to fundamentally increase institutional acceptance.