Ripple invests in 2 firms as tokenized bank pilots go live

Ripple President Monica Long says banks are moving tokenized funds from pilots into production as the company adds transfer agency and collateral tools to XRPL.

Ripple President Monica Long said Aug. 4 that banks are moving tokenized assets from pilots into production, citing investments in two UK infrastructure firms.

The shift is creating demand for the operational infrastructure needed to issue, manage and use regulated assets on public blockchains, Long said in a post on X.

Ripple announced Aug. 3 it invested in ZILO and Licuido, adding transfer agency, token issuance and collateral mobility tools to its capital markets infrastructure on the XRP Ledger. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The investments follow Aviva Investors' launch of a tokenized share class of its U.S. Dollar Liquidity Fund on XRPL on July 29, the first such product from the UK asset manager.

ZILO and Licuido fill two gaps in tokenized funds

ZILO supplies transfer agency and fund administration technology, maintaining regulated investor records as fund ownership moves onchain. It launched an integrated digital assets and transfer agency platform Aug. 3. Licuido handles token issuance, distribution and secondary trading, with tokenized fund units designed for use as collateral. Licuido Markets Limited is an appointed representative of Sapeno Partners LLP, which the Financial Conduct Authority authorizes and regulates.

RLUSD settles the cash side of fund trades

Ripple plans to use its dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, as the cash leg for delivery-versus-payment transactions, allowing the tokenized asset and payment to settle together on XRPL. RWA.xyz showed $4.06 billion in represented assets and $313.3 million in distributed assets on XRPL as of July 29. Tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger stand at $368 million, ranking 11th among blockchains, behind Ethereum's $17.1 billion, according to RWA.xyz.

Ripple also works with Franklin Templeton and DBS on tokenized money market infrastructure. DBS listed Franklin Templeton's sgBENJI token alongside RLUSD and plans to explore lending and repurchase transactions using tokenized fund units as collateral.

Ripple did not disclose the amount invested in either company, the resulting ownership stakes or deployment dates. The companies have not published settlement volumes or named new clients.

The next measurable developments will include additional tokenized fund launches, named institutional customers and transaction data showing how often RLUSD is used for delivery versus payment. Whether the transition to production reaches wider scale will depend on client onboarding, regulatory approvals and verified transaction activity.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.