Ripple has announced a new collaboration with DBS Group Holdings and Franklin Templeton aimed at expanding institutional use cases for Ripple USD (RLUSD) and tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The initiative is designed for accredited and institutional investors, combining tokenized money market fund exposure, stablecoin liquidity, and potential credit functionality within a single onchain framework.
At the center of the plan is sgBENJI, Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund product, which will be made available on DBS Digital Exchange. Under the proposed setup, eligible DBS clients will be able to trade RLUSD for sgBENJI tokens, giving them a way to rotate into a relatively stable, yield-bearing asset without leaving an onchain environment. The companies are positioning this model as an alternative to allocating solely into more volatile crypto assets such as bitcoin and ether.
How the framework is meant to work
According to Ripple’s announcement, the structure is intended to give institutional participants real-time access to both liquidity and yield. Instead of waiting for traditional market hours or relying on slower settlement rails, eligible DBS clients would be able to move between RLUSD and sgBENJI on a 24/7 basis and complete portfolio rebalancing within minutes.
This matters because money market funds have traditionally been used by institutions as a defensive allocation, cash management instrument, or short-duration yield vehicle. By tokenizing that exposure and linking it with a stablecoin trading pair, the three firms are effectively trying to recreate a familiar treasury and portfolio-management function in an onchain format. In periods of heightened market volatility, investors could theoretically shift capital into a more stable tokenized fund while still preserving access to yield.
Ripple described the setup as one that allows qualifying DBS clients to trade RLUSD for sgBENJI and rebalance into a comparatively stable asset quickly, while continuing to earn yield during turbulent market conditions. That framing underscores the partnership’s broader theme: bringing institutional-style capital efficiency into blockchain-based finance.
DBS Digital Exchange as the access point
DBS Digital Exchange will serve as a key venue for the initiative. By listing sgBENJI against RLUSD, the exchange becomes the operational bridge between a regulated banking group, a major global asset manager, and Ripple’s blockchain ecosystem. For institutional users, that may be more important than the tokenization headline itself. Access, settlement speed, custody, and liquidity are usually what determine whether a product becomes viable at scale.
The announcement suggests that DBS is not simply offering a trading pair, but is also exploring how tokenized fund units could be integrated into broader balance-sheet and financing workflows. If successful, that would push tokenized money market funds beyond being passive investment wrappers and toward becoming active instruments in collateralized finance.
Potential use of sgBENJI as collateral
One of the most notable elements of the announcement is that DBS is evaluating whether sgBENJI can be used as collateral for credit. The bank is considering structures that may include repurchase agreements directly with DBS, as well as third-party lending channels in which DBS would act as custodian.
This is a meaningful development because collateral utility is one of the clearest markers of institutional acceptance. A tokenized fund that can be traded is useful; a tokenized fund that can also support financing activity is considerably more powerful. In that scenario, sgBENJI would not only provide a relatively stable store of value and a source of yield, but could also help unlock liquidity through secured borrowing arrangements.
That dual role—risk mitigation plus income generation—is exactly what many institutional investors look for in short-duration and money market products. By extending those functions into a blockchain-native framework, the partners are attempting to make tokenized funds more relevant to treasury desks, fund managers, and sophisticated allocators.
Franklin Templeton expands its tokenization footprint to XRPL
Franklin Templeton will also deepen the infrastructure side of the partnership by tokenizing sgBENJI on the XRP Ledger. Ripple said this move strengthens the tokenization ecosystem by anchoring the product to a public, enterprise-grade blockchain. The addition of XRPL to Franklin Templeton’s existing blockchain lineup is intended to improve interoperability across networks and broaden accessibility for participants operating in different parts of the digital asset ecosystem.
That interoperability angle is significant. Large asset managers increasingly avoid building around a single chain strategy, especially when their long-term goal is to distribute tokenized financial products to a wide range of counterparties and platforms. Adding XRPL gives Franklin Templeton another settlement and issuance rail, while also linking the product more closely to Ripple’s stablecoin and institutional payments ambitions.
For Ripple, the partnership offers more than headline visibility. It reinforces the company’s effort to position XRPL as infrastructure for real-world financial assets rather than merely as a venue for native crypto activity. Tokenized funds, stablecoins, and collateral applications are all areas where blockchain networks can appeal to institutions if the compliance, custody, and liquidity layers are mature enough.
A push toward more stable onchain portfolio tools
The collaboration also reflects a broader trend in digital asset markets: the search for products that combine blockchain efficiency with the risk profile of more traditional financial instruments. For many institutions, pure crypto exposure remains difficult to scale because of volatility, internal risk limits, and regulatory uncertainty. Products tied to money market funds and paired with stablecoins may offer a more practical path into onchain finance.
In this case, the firms are explicitly presenting the framework as a way to help investors diversify away from highly volatile crypto assets. Rather than forcing a choice between staying in fiat-based legacy markets and taking full crypto market risk, the model offers a middle ground: tokenized access to a familiar yield product, settled and transferable through blockchain infrastructure.
If the structure gains traction, it could serve as a template for how banks, asset managers, and blockchain firms work together in the next phase of digital asset adoption. The value proposition is not just tokenization for its own sake, but tokenization paired with liquidity, near-instant rebalancing, and potential financing utility.
Caution remains part of the picture
Even as the announcement highlights confidence in blockchain adoption, DBS cautioned clients to assess their own risk appetite carefully before making crypto-related investments. That caveat is important. Institutional integration does not eliminate market, operational, custody, or regulatory risks. It simply changes the structure through which those risks are managed.
Still, the partnership between Ripple, DBS, and Franklin Templeton stands out because it brings together three different pillars of the financial ecosystem: blockchain infrastructure, regulated banking access, and global asset management. By linking RLUSD, sgBENJI, DBS Digital Exchange, and XRPL in one framework, the companies are trying to create a more institutional-grade foundation for onchain liquidity and portfolio management.
Whether the initiative becomes a major adoption milestone will depend on execution, client uptake, and the practical success of collateral and lending use cases. But based on the announced design, the project clearly signals where the market is heading: toward tokenized, yield-bearing, and interoperable financial products that can move across blockchain networks with the speed and flexibility institutions increasingly expect.