Ripple and BNY Push Tokenized Trade Finance on XRPL

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The two tracks sit at different stages. Custody support is live for eligible clients now. The trade finance work, by contrast, is an intent the firms plan to pursue.

What BNY’s Custody Support Means

BNY now holds XRP and RLUSD on its Digital Asset Custody platform. Eligible institutional clients can safekeep, hold, and transfer both assets through the bank.

The scale of the custodian matters here. BNY oversees $63.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration as of September 30, 2026. So its support gives XRP and RLUSD a bank-grade home for large institutions.

This step builds on an existing relationship. BNY has served as primary reserve custodian for RLUSD reserves since July 2025. It also provides custody for Ripple Prime. According to the companies, BNY now intends to let clients mint and redeem RLUSD directly through the bank.

Ripple framed the move as a shift in how institutions use digital assets. “We’re moving past the initial issuance of assets onchain,” said Monica Long, President of Ripple. In her words, the focus now is making tokenized assets usable for payments and collateral. The full detail sits in the Ripple press release.

Tokenized Trade Finance on XRPL

The second track is forward-looking. Ripple and BNY intend to advance tokenized trade finance on the XRP Ledger, subject to client requirements.

In practice, the idea means representing existing assets such as trade receivables as tokens on a public blockchain. Suppliers often wait 30 to 90 days to collect on an invoice. Tokenizing those receivables could broaden investor access and simplify how the assets are managed.

As a first step, the firms are exploring a supply chain finance initiative with C2FO. C2FO is a global working-capital platform. The exploration focuses on expanding investor access to approved receivables. For now, it carries no pilot sizes, launch dates, or volume targets.

A related same-day announcement adds context. C2FO and Ripple plan to use RLUSD to settle C2FO Instant Pay on the XRP Ledger. Businesses can join a waitlist, though neither firm gave a firm rollout date. The details appear in the C2FO and Ripple release.

How RLUSD and XRP Fit In

RLUSD is Ripple’s regulated US dollar stablecoin, issued under NYDFS oversight. It carries a market cap of roughly $2.5 billion across chains, according to the release. In this design, RLUSD acts as the settlement and payments asset.

XRP plays a different role. As the native asset of the XRP Ledger, it can cover fees, bridging, and liquidity. On-chain data from XRPScan shows the RLUSD issuer account active on XRPL. The stablecoin counts roughly 67,700 holders there.

The ledger itself offers the plumbing. XRPL settles transactions in three to five seconds and runs around the clock. It has processed more than 4.6 billion transactions. So a regulated stablecoin on that rail lets cash-like value move on-chain without leaning on XRP’s price swings.

The Backdrop Behind the Deal

This expansion did not arrive in isolation. It follows a steady build-out of regulated infrastructure around RLUSD over the past two years.

RLUSD launched in December 2024 on both XRPL and Ethereum. Cash, short-term Treasuries, and cash equivalents back the token. BNY then became its primary reserve custodian in July 2025. In January 2026, BNY launched tokenized deposit services, with Ripple Prime as an early adopter.

The timing is notable for another reason. Just one day earlier, on October 26, the OCC gave final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The new bank can manage segregated RLUSD reserves and offer fiduciary digital-asset custody. Standard Custody and Trust Company continues to issue RLUSD under NYDFS rules.

What Is Live and What Is Still Planned

The announcement mixes shipped products with stated intentions. So the distinction is worth keeping clear.

Live now: BNY custody support for client holdings of XRP and RLUSD. Planned or exploratory: direct mint and redeem through BNY, the trade finance work on XRPL, and the C2FO initiative. The release leans on the words “intend,” “explore,” and “subject to client requirements.”

Market reaction stayed measured. XRP traded near $1.30 on October 27, with no dramatic spike tied to the news. Some commentators welcomed access to a $63.4 trillion custodian. Others noted that C2FO Instant Pay remains at the waitlist stage and urged watching for real settlement volume.

Carolyn Weinberg, Chief Innovation and Market Transformation Officer at BNY, pointed to the longer arc. She said future market infrastructure will deliver connectivity across payments, liquidity, collateral, and securities. That shift, she added, depends on bridges between traditional systems and blockchain technology.

What Comes Next for Tokenized Trade Finance

The near-term signal to watch is movement from intent to product. Concrete markers would include a live mint and redeem flow through BNY. A named tokenized receivables instrument on XRPL would be another. Disclosed C2FO settlement volume would be a third.

Until then, the custody support stands as the firm, usable piece of the deal. The tokenized trade finance plans and the C2FO exploration remain early. Their payoff depends on client uptake that neither firm has yet quantified.

OCT will track whether these plans convert into real on-chain activity on the XRP Ledger. This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decision.