BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton are testing XRP Ledger (XRPL) as infrastructure for payments and settlement rather than as a trading venue. Odelia Torteman disclosed the activity at a Digital Assets Forum event in London, saying institutions are running onchain tests involving RLUSD.
Institutions are using XRPL as financial infrastructure
Torteman said the firms see the network as a piece of infrastructure. In that setup, XRP functions as a bridge asset for moving value between different assets. XRPL also includes an automated market maker, a decentralized exchange, and compliance-focused trust lines, giving institutions a single system for payments, settlement, and cross-asset transfers.
The emphasis is clear. These tests are centered on whether regulated stablecoins can support institutional payment and settlement flows on a public blockchain, not on speculative trading activity.
RLUSD links tokenized funds with continuous liquidity
Last November, Mastercard partnered with Gemini and Ripple to test RLUSD settlement for card payments. The pilot showed how a regulated stablecoin could process transactions on a public blockchain.
Ripple has also expanded the work into tokenized assets. Through a partnership with Securitize, it supports conversions into RLUSD for BlackRock’s BUIDL fund and VanEck’s VBILL fund. According to the source material, that structure enables continuous onchain liquidity through smart contracts, creating a direct path between tokenized funds and stablecoin settlement.
Franklin Templeton and DBS explore lending and trading use cases
Franklin Templeton and DBS Bank are separately working with Ripple on tokenized lending and trading solutions. Those efforts combine money market funds with stablecoin settlement, with the stated aim of improving liquidity and execution.
Market activity in XRP has increased alongside the institutional tests. The token rose nearly 10% over the past week and briefly moved above $1.50. Data cited in the source also showed about $55 million in ETF inflows during the same period. Torteman, though, said institutional interest remains centered on XRPL’s infrastructure capabilities, especially payments, settlement, and transfers across assets inside one system.