Ripple invests in ZILO and Licuido to deepen tokenized capital markets push

Ripple announced Monday strategic investments in ZILO, which focuses on transfer agency solutions, and Licuido, an FCA-regulated tokenization platform, as it deepens its push into capital markets.

Ripple said in a statement that the deals are expected to bring regulated transfer agency, issuance, and collateral mobility to its infrastructure on the XRP Ledger.

ZILO provides transfer agency and fund administration technology for asset managers, custodians, and transfer agents, and supports tokenized share classes as investment funds move onchain. 

Licuido focuses on the issuance and distribution of traditional financial assets, enabling them to be used as digital collateral through onchain atomic settlement infrastructure, according to the statement.

Nigel Khakoo, Ripple's SVP for trading and markets, said that the latest deals build on its existing partnerships with Aviva Investors, Franklin Templeton, and DBS, which "demonstrate how asset managers are focused on deploying tokenized fund structures at scale."

"ZILO and Licuido provide core capabilities that are essential to further scaling this shift: regulated digital transfer agency infrastructure and liquidity for issuance and collateral mobility," Khakoo said in the statement.

Capital market inefficiencies

Ripple said that global capital markets face inefficiencies, with collateral sitting idle, settlements taking longer than necessary, and limited ways to unlock liquidity.

"Ripple's infrastructure for institutional investors and issuers is designed to solve these problems, combining issuance, custody, collateral utility, multi-currency enabled investment, and atomic settlement — with Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD as the regulated cash leg for delivery-versus-payment transactions," the company said.

In February, Ripple partnered with Aviva Investors to explore tokenizing traditional fund structures on the XRP Ledger, marking its first collaboration with a European investment management business.