Ripple, BNY explore using the XRP Ledger to finance approved invoices

BNY expanded its partnership with Ripple, adding XRP and the dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD to its institutional custody platform, the companies said on Tuesday. 

The bank already serves as the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD and has a custody relationship with Ripple Prime. Under the new arrangement, the companies intend to let BNY clients mint and redeem RLUSD directly through the bank and explore tokenized trade finance on the XRP Ledger, according to a statement. 

"We’re moving past the initial issuance of assets onchain," Monica Long, Ripple's president, said in the statement, adding that the next step involves making tokenized assets "usable for payments and collateral across financial markets."

As part of the expansion, BNY and Ripple also partnered with working capital provider C2FO to test tokenized trade finance. The project targets supply chain receivables, attempting to move corporate working capital onto public ledger infrastructure, the companies said. 

Suppliers can receive funds in seconds against approved invoices, rather than waiting several days for bank transfers to clear, according to a separate statement. Participating capital providers will fund the payments, while existing invoice terms and due dates remain unchanged.

Ripple also announced a partnership with Robinhood covering stablecoins, treasury operations and institutional markets. RLUSD is already available on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp by Robinhood, with availability in the Robinhood app expected later this year. Ripple said Robinhood will use the stablecoin for institutional settlement on the XRP Ledger and integrate Ripple Treasury for cash management, payments and liquidity operations.

RLUSD has grown to about $2.5 billion in market capitalization since launching in December 2024, more than $1 billion of it issued on the XRPL. The ledger has processed over 4.6 billion transactions since launch, settling in three to five seconds, the company said. 

Meanwhile, the BNY agreement and C2FO initiative remain subject to further development, with the companies yet to detail when the proposed custody-related services and broader trade finance applications will be available.