Overview BNY and Ripple announced an expansion of their collaboration on institutional digital asset custody and tokenized trade finance in New York on October 27. The announcement contains items in tOverview BNY and Ripple announced an expansion of their collaboration on institutional digital asset custody and tokenized trade finance in New York on October 27. The announcement contains items in t
BNY XRP & RLUSD Custody Expansion: What Ripple's Partnership Means for Institutional Adoption
Overview
BNY and Ripple announced an expansion of their collaboration on institutional digital asset custody and tokenized trade finance in New York on October 27. The announcement contains items in two different states, and that distinction determines what the news actually means.
What is already in effect: BNY's Digital Asset Custody platform now supports XRP and RLUSD, with eligible clients able to safekeep, hold and transfer both assets. BNY is also already the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD and holds a custody relationship with Ripple Prime.
What remains planned: clients minting and redeeming RLUSD directly through BNY carries an asterisk marking it "subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals"; advancing tokenized trade finance on the XRP Ledger is framed as an intention and "subject to client requirements"; and the supply chain finance initiative with C2FO is described as being explored, which the release calls "a first step toward this ambition." No timeline is given for any planned item.
The distinction matters because custody support and a bank purchase are different things. BNY's $63.4 trillion as of September 30 represents assets under custody and administration, meaning assets the bank safekeeps and services on behalf of clients rather than the bank's own capital or a pool it can allocate.
Key Takeaways
Live now: BNY's Digital Asset Custody platform supports XRP and RLUSD, offering safekeeping, holding and transfer to eligible clients.
Already in place: BNY serves as the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD and holds a custody relationship with Ripple Prime.
Pending approval: minting and redeeming RLUSD directly through BNY, which the release explicitly marks as subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals.
Under exploration: the C2FO supply chain finance initiative and advancing tokenized trade finance on the XRP Ledger, neither with a timeline.
Custody is not allocation. The $63.4 trillion figure is assets under custody and administration rather than the bank's own or allocatable capital; assets under management over the same period stood at $2.2 trillion, roughly 3.5% of the former.
RLUSD market capitalization is approximately $2.5 billion, of which more than $1 billion is issued on the XRP Ledger and the remainder on networks including Ethereum.
RLUSD received an A2 long-term rating and a Prime-1 short-term deposit rating from Moody's on October 28, which does not guarantee redemption and does not make it an insured bank deposit.
Ripple received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on October 26 to establish Ripple National Trust Bank, limited to trust-company activities.
What the Announcement Contains
The release separates its contents into two categories through distinct wording.
Item | Status in the release | Wording used |
BNY custody platform supporting XRP and RLUSD | In effect | BNY now supports XRP and RLUSD on its Digital Asset Custody platform |
BNY as primary reserve custodian for RLUSD | Existing | Primary reserve custodian for Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD |
Custody relationship with Ripple Prime | Existing | Has a custody relationship |
Broader support for tokenized assets on XRPL | Planned | Intends to broaden support as use cases continue to develop |
Clients minting and redeeming RLUSD through BNY | Pending approval | Will work with Ripple to enable, subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals |
Advancing tokenized trade finance on XRPL | Planned | Intend to advance, subject to client requirements |
C2FO supply chain finance initiative | Exploring | Exploring, a first step toward this ambition |
Three executives are quoted. Ripple President Monica Long says the focus has moved past initial issuance toward making tokenized assets usable for payments and collateral. BNY Chief Innovation and Market Transformation Officer Carolyn Weinberg says the companies are working to shape a more continuous, efficient and resilient financial system. C2FO President and Chief Operating Officer for the Americas Ragui Selwanes says the firm is excited to explore a new model for financing approved receivables with Ripple, BNY and the XRP Ledger.
The release also carries several figures: RLUSD has grown to approximately $2.5 billion in market capitalization; the XRP Ledger has processed more than 4.6 billion transactions since launch with settlement in approximately three to five seconds; and as of September 30, 2026, BNY oversees $63.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.2 trillion in assets under management.
Custody Support Is Not the Bank Buying XRP
This is where the news is most easily misread, and the misreading usually begins with the nature of the $63.4 trillion figure.
Assets under custody and administration measure the total assets a bank safekeeps, settles, values, records and services on behalf of clients. Ownership of those assets sits with the clients, and investment decisions sit with the clients or their investment managers. The custodian's role is infrastructural and fiduciary rather than allocative.
Offering custody for an asset therefore means the bank has built the technical and compliance capability to safekeep it and has opened that service to clients who have independently decided to hold it. It carries no position in that asset on the bank's part and constitutes no judgement about its price.
Assets under management is a separate measure. BNY's $2.2 trillion over the same period, roughly 3.5% of assets under custody and administration, is the portion involving discretionary investment decisions, and even within it allocation remains constrained by each product's mandate and investment policy.
Converting some percentage of $63.4 trillion into potential XRP demand therefore conflates the scale of safekeeping with the scale of allocatable capital. Building custody capability removes one precondition to institutional participation, but between that precondition and actual allocation sits the independent decision of each client.
For the banks and financial institutions currently holding various forms of relationship with Ripple, see the complete list of financial institutions using Ripple.
RLUSD Scale, Rating and Regulatory Status
Two separate developments around this announcement together establish the stablecoin's current institutional position.
Scale and Issuance Distribution
RLUSD's market capitalization is approximately $2.5 billion, of which more than $1 billion is issued on the XRP Ledger. Less than half the circulating supply therefore sits on XRPL, with the remainder on networks including Ethereum. Moody's rating likewise covers RLUSD obligations issued on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.
On reserves, RLUSD is backed mainly by cash and short-dated US government securities with BNY as primary reserve custodian, reserve coverage has been reported at approximately 103%, and independent monthly attestations are published.
The Moody's Rating
On October 28, Moody's assigned RLUSD an A2 long-term rating and a Prime-1 short-term deposit rating. A2 falls within investment grade but is not Moody's highest long-term category, which is Aaa, while Prime-1 is the highest short-term category.
The rating covers RLUSD obligations issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a New York-regulated Ripple subsidiary. It does not guarantee redemption, does not prevent changes to the dollar peg, does not establish bank approval of RLUSD, and does not make it an insured bank deposit.
Cross-comparison requires care. S&P Global assesses USDC and USDT on a separate numerical stability scale, assigning USDC a score of 2 for strong stability in December 2025 and USDT a score of 5 for weak in November 2025. That scale and Moody's A2 and Prime-1 belong to different systems and cannot be compared directly.
The Regulatory Structure
On October 26, Ripple confirmed final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Ripple National Trust Bank, ending a conditional approval stage that began in December 2025.
The charter is limited to trust-company activities and does not cover retail banking such as consumer lending or conventional deposit-taking. Ripple National Trust Bank will manage segregated RLUSD reserves and act as collateral trustee for token holders, bringing reserve management under the Comptroller's supervision while issuance remains within New York's framework. The bank will provide fiduciary digital asset custody once it opens, and no opening date has been published.
The charter also does not resolve every issuer obligation under GENIUS Act rules, which take effect around January 2027.
How the C2FO Receivables Financing Would Work
The C2FO collaboration remains at the exploration stage, but its intended mechanics have been described.
The business addresses approved receivables, meaning invoices a buyer has confirmed. Under conventional processes a supplier waits several days for a bank transfer to clear. Under the intended model, suppliers would receive funds within seconds against approved invoices, funded by participating capital providers, while existing invoice terms and due dates remain unchanged.
The aim is to move corporate working capital onto public ledger infrastructure. The release does not specify which asset would fund the payments in that flow, and RLUSD's role within it is not identified.
This structure differs from the path taken by bank deposit tokens. For how JPMorgan's deposit token works and where it sits, see JPM Coin and bank deposit tokens.
XRP, RLUSD and XRPL Play Different Roles
The announcement involves three subjects performing different functions, and treating them interchangeably distorts the reading.
Subject | Role in the announcement | Status |
XRP | One of the assets added to BNY's custody platform | Live |
RLUSD | Added to custody support; BNY is primary reserve custodian; direct mint and redeem pending approval | Partly live, partly pending |
XRP Ledger | The network carrying tokenized asset support and trade finance | Planned and exploratory |
XRP appears in the announcement as a custody subject, with no function described in trade finance or settlement flows. RLUSD's role is more composite, serving as a custody subject, as the object of BNY's existing reserve custody relationship, and with its direct mint and redeem function still pending approval. The XRP Ledger appears mainly in forward-looking statements, namely BNY's intention to broaden support for tokenized assets on that network and both parties' intention to advance trade finance there.
One further arrangement sits outside this announcement: Robinhood will use RLUSD for institutional settlement on the XRP Ledger.
To follow how the relevant assets actually trade, view the XRP to USDT spot market on MEXC.
What to Watch Next
Approval progress on direct mint and redeem. The release explicitly marks this as subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals and gives no timeline. Once effective, it would materially change how institutional clients access the RLUSD primary market; until then the capability remains a plan.
Whether the C2FO initiative reaches pilot stage. It currently sits at exploration, described as a first step. Concrete pilot scale, named participants or a launch date would mark substantive progress.
The opening date of Ripple National Trust Bank. The bank will provide fiduciary digital asset custody once it opens, and no date has been published. When reserve management actually comes under the Comptroller's supervision depends on this.
Implementation of GENIUS Act rules. These take effect around January 2027, and the existing charter does not resolve every issuer obligation under them.
RLUSD's issuance share on the XRP Ledger. More than $1 billion of the roughly $2.5 billion market capitalization currently sits on XRPL, and changes in that proportion indicate the network's actual position in RLUSD circulation.
The scope of BNY's support for tokenized assets on XRPL. The release states an intention to broaden support as use cases develop, so which assets and products are actually supported is the subsequent marker.
Exclusive View from James Mitchell
For James Mitchell, the value in this announcement lies in how carefully the release itself separates its categories, a distinction external interpretation often discards.
Two things in it are genuinely in effect: BNY's Digital Asset Custody platform now supports XRP and RLUSD, and BNY was already the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD. Everything else carries a qualifier, whether intends to advance, is exploring, subject to client requirements, or subject to final approvals. The direct mint and redeem capability carries its own asterisk specifying final BNY and regulatory approvals. That layering of language is not a stylistic habit; it reflects the different stages the various workstreams occupy.
The $63.4 trillion figure is where misreadings start. It measures assets under custody and administration, meaning assets the bank safekeeps and services for clients, with ownership sitting with those clients and investment decisions sitting with them or their managers. Converting a percentage of it into potential demand treats safekeeping scale as allocatable capital. The same release carries a figure closer to an allocation measure, namely $2.2 trillion in assets under management, roughly 3.5% of the former, and even within that portion allocation remains bounded by each product's mandate.
Custody capability carries real significance, only at a different point in the chain. Many regulated institutions cannot hold assets lacking a qualified custodian, so custody support removes a precondition rather than creating demand. Once the precondition is removed, whether and how much to allocate still rests on each client's independent decision, and no automatic transmission connects the two steps.
The developments on the RLUSD side carry more substance than the custody news itself. Moody's assigned an A2 long-term rating and a Prime-1 short-term deposit rating on October 28, and Ripple received final approval from the Comptroller of the Currency on October 26 to establish Ripple National Trust Bank. Together these place reserve management under federal supervision while issuance remains in New York's framework, producing a structure spanning two regulatory levels.
The rating warrants equal precision. A2 sits within investment grade but is not the highest category, which is Aaa. The rating does not guarantee redemption, does not prevent changes to the peg, and does not make RLUSD an insured bank deposit. It cannot be compared directly with S&P's scores for USDC and USDT, which run on a different scale.
One fact about scale also deserves preserving. Of RLUSD's roughly $2.5 billion market capitalization, more than $1 billion is issued on the XRP Ledger with the remainder on networks including Ethereum, and Moody's rating covers obligations on both. Attributing RLUSD's growth wholly to XRPL adoption does not match the issuance distribution.
The C2FO item is the most concrete business application in the announcement at the conceptual level: suppliers receiving funds within seconds against approved invoices, funded by participating capital providers, with original invoice terms and due dates unchanged. But the release does not state which asset would fund that flow, RLUSD's role in it is unspecified, and the initiative itself remains at exploration.
Taken together, this announcement changes the availability of infrastructure rather than the demand structure for the assets. Infrastructure preceding adoption is a common sequence institutionally, but the interval between available and used has always been set by client decision cycles rather than by announcements.
FAQ
Which capabilities in the BNY announcement are already live?
Two. BNY's Digital Asset Custody platform now supports XRP and RLUSD, with eligible clients able to safekeep, hold and transfer both assets. Separately, BNY was already the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD and holds a custody relationship with Ripple Prime. Everything else in the release carries planned or conditional qualifiers.
Which capabilities remain planned?
Minting and redeeming RLUSD directly through BNY is subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals, which the release marks with an asterisk. Broadening support for tokenized assets and investment products on the XRP Ledger is framed as an intention contingent on use cases developing. Advancing tokenized trade finance on the XRP Ledger is framed as an intention subject to client requirements. The C2FO supply chain finance initiative sits at exploration, described as a first step. None carries a timeline.
Does custody support mean BNY has bought XRP?
No. Custody measures the service of safekeeping, settling, valuing and recording assets on behalf of clients, with ownership sitting with those clients and investment decisions with them or their investment managers. Offering custody for an asset means the bank has built the technical and compliance capability to safekeep it and opened that service to clients who have independently decided to hold it, and it carries no position on the bank's own part.
What does the $63.4 trillion figure represent?
It is BNY's assets under custody and administration as of September 30, 2026, meaning the total assets the bank safekeeps and services on behalf of clients rather than the bank's own capital or capital it can allocate. BNY's assets under management over the same period stood at $2.2 trillion, roughly 3.5% of the former, and that portion is where discretionary investment decisions sit, still bounded by each product's mandate.
What is RLUSD's current scale and issuance distribution?
RLUSD's market capitalization is approximately $2.5 billion, of which more than $1 billion is issued on the XRP Ledger and the remainder on networks including Ethereum. Reserves consist mainly of cash and short-dated US government securities with BNY as primary reserve custodian, reserve coverage has been reported at approximately 103%, and independent monthly attestations are published.
What does the Moody's rating mean for RLUSD?
On October 28 Moody's assigned an A2 long-term rating and a Prime-1 short-term deposit rating covering RLUSD obligations issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a New York-regulated Ripple subsidiary, on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. A2 falls within investment grade but is not the highest long-term category, which is Aaa, while Prime-1 is the highest short-term category. The rating does not guarantee redemption, does not prevent changes to the dollar peg, and does not make RLUSD an insured bank deposit.
What does Ripple's banking charter cover?
On October 26 Ripple confirmed final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Ripple National Trust Bank, ending a conditional approval stage begun in December 2025. The charter is limited to trust-company activities and excludes retail banking. The bank will manage segregated RLUSD reserves and act as collateral trustee for token holders, bringing reserve management under the Comptroller's supervision while issuance remains within New York's framework. It will provide fiduciary digital asset custody once it opens, and no opening date has been published.
How would the C2FO receivables financing work?
The initiative addresses approved receivables, meaning invoices a buyer has confirmed. Where conventional processes leave a supplier waiting several days for a bank transfer to clear, the intended model would deliver funds within seconds against approved invoices, funded by participating capital providers, with existing invoice terms and due dates unchanged, moving corporate working capital onto public ledger infrastructure. The release does not state which asset would fund the payments, and the initiative remains at exploration.
Disclaimer
This article is for general information only and does not constitute investment, financial, legal or tax advice. Figures are current as of October 29, 2026, and items identified as planned, exploratory or pending approval have not taken effect, with both their implementation and its timing uncertain. Crypto assets and leveraged products are highly volatile and can produce losses exceeding the initial outlay. Readers should verify the original disclosures and judge independently, consulting a qualified professional where appropriate.
About the Author
James Mitchell specializes in technical analysis, market trends, and trading strategies for both Bitcoin and altcoins. Based in London, he has over 10 years of experience in financial markets. Before joining MEXC Learn, James worked as a senior analyst at a leading European investment firm, where he developed expertise in risk management and quantitative trading. His transition to cryptocurrency markets began in 2017, and he has since become recognized for his data-driven approach. He holds a Master's degree in Financial Economics from the London School of Economics. His analytical approach combines traditional technical analysis with on-chain metrics to provide readers with actionable insights.
Areas of Expertise: Technical Analysis, Market Trends and Cycles, Trading Strategies, Bitcoin and Altcoin Analysis, Risk Management.
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