Ripple is expanding its stablecoin payments services for banks and fintechs to reduce the need to hold funds abroad and speed up cross-border transfers. The company said it upgraded Ripple Payments — its global platform that connects financial institutions to blockchain settlement rails — to support a broader stablecoin workflow that covers collection, custody, conversion and payout.
The upgrade is designed to compete more directly with legacy payment systems by cutting reliance on pre-funded accounts and correspondent banking networks that tie up capital and slow international transactions. Ripple is privately valued at about $17.7 billion, according to pre-IPO shares platform Forge Global.
Ripple Payments is already live in more than 60 markets and has processed in excess of $100 billion in transaction volume. Ripple named participants including Switzerland’s AMINA Bank, Brazil’s Banco Genial, Malaysia’s ECIB and the Philippines’ AltPayNet as examples of institutions using the platform.
The expansion builds on Ripple’s recent deals to bolster custody and treasury capabilities, including its acquisitions of Palisade (custody and treasury automation) and Rail (a fiat and stablecoin holding and exchange platform). Ripple bought Rail last August for $200 million.
Ripple is also intensifying its institutional focus around its dollar-pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), whose circulating supply is roughly $1.5 billion — a small but growing portion of the broader stablecoin market.
That commercial momentum has coincided with regulatory developments. In December, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved national trust bank charters for Ripple’s planned Ripple National Trust Bank and for other crypto firms, including Circle, BitGo, Paxos Trust Company and Fidelity Digital Assets. If finalized, those charters would allow firms to manage assets and stablecoin reserves under federal oversight, though they would not authorize traditional banking activities like deposit-taking or lending.
The rollout comes amid discussions in Washington over a proposed U.S. crypto market structure bill that would shape stablecoin rules. Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, took part in a February White House meeting with crypto and banking representatives to discuss the bill’s stablecoin provisions, highlighting Ripple’s engagement in the regulatory conversation.