BNY now supports XRP and Ripple USD (RLUSD) on its institutional Digital Asset Custody platform under an expanded collaboration with Ripple announced October 27. The companies will also explore uses of blockchain technology in tokenized trade finance.
The official Ripple announcement describes the addition as an extension of existing relationships. BNY is already a primary reserve custodian for RLUSD and has a custody relationship with Ripple Prime.
Custody support covers two Ripple-linked assets
The new arrangement allows eligible institutional clients to safekeep, hold and transfer XRP and RLUSD through BNY’s digital asset infrastructure. BNY describes its platform as operating within its broader custody governance and operational controls.
XRP is the native asset of the XRP Ledger, while RLUSD is Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin. Providing custody for both assets may simplify institutional workflows that involve settlement, payments or digital asset holdings, although the announcement gives no volume forecasts or client adoption figures.
Trade finance remains exploratory
The companies said they will explore tokenized trade finance as part of a wider effort to connect traditional financial services with blockchain-based asset movement. A custody expansion is a confirmed service change; the trade-finance work is an area of collaboration rather than a finished product launch.
Ripple President Monica Long framed the next stage as making tokenized assets usable for payments and collateral, not merely issuing them on-chain. BNY’s innovation leadership similarly emphasized links among payments, liquidity and securities.
The October 27 announcement follows other institutional XRP Ledger developments, including Aviva Investors’ tokenized fund share class. These projects involve different firms and should not be treated as a single agreement.
The partners did not release commercial terms, a launch timetable for tokenized trade-finance products or estimates for future custody balances.