Ripple has joined forces with Clearpool and Cicada Partners to introduce institutional credit markets on the XRP Ledger. The collaboration seeks to connect regulated borrowers with on-chain capital through native blockchain features rather than third-party smart contracts.

Roles of the Three Partners

Clearpool is developing the lending infrastructure on the XRP Ledger. The firm draws on its Lending Protocol and Single Asset Vault architecture and reports having facilitated more than $930 million in institutional loans since 2021. Its design enables independent credit managers to establish separate lending markets with tailored risk parameters.

Cicada Partners will handle loan origination, servicing and ongoing monitoring. The firm brings more than $860 million in credit underwriting experience and will evaluate borrowers, set terms and track credit performance after issuance.

Ripple is participating as a limited partner in the credit fund on the same terms as other institutional investors. It will not act as a guarantor or special backstop. Capital from the fund is intended to support fintech companies, payment providers and crypto businesses seeking working capital.

RLUSD as the Core Lending Asset

Loans will be denominated in RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin. The token is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services and uses Bank of New York Mellon for custody. Borrowers are expected to use the proceeds for operational funding needs.

All lending activity will settle on the XRP Ledger. Network fees and wallet reserves will be paid in XRP, tying the token directly to transaction processing as volumes grow. Additional XRPL capabilities, including Permissioned Domains, Credentials and Clawback functions, are planned to support participant eligibility checks and asset recovery controls required by regulated institutions.

Focus on Real-World Credit

The partners position the initiative as a shift toward genuine external lending. They note that the large majority of current decentralized finance yields stem from trading-related activities such as arbitrage, basis trades, looping and liquidity mining rather than financing outside the crypto ecosystem. The new platform targets fintech and payments firms that require working capital in regulated markets.

By embedding lending functions within the XRP Ledger’s core protocol through the XLS-65 Single Asset Vault and XLS-66 Lending Protocol amendments, the system avoids reliance on external smart-contract layers. Pool creation, loan issuance, repayments and compliance checks are designed to operate natively on the ledger.

Development Status and Next Steps

Clearpool is currently testing the full lending workflow on the XRPL Devnet. A technical demonstration covering pool setup, borrowing and repayment is planned. Activation on the main network depends on community approval of the relevant protocol amendments. Under XRPL governance rules, amendments typically require support from at least 80 percent of trusted validators sustained over two consecutive weeks.

Until those amendments are approved and activated, the institutional lending features remain in the testing phase. The partners continue to refine compliance tools such as digital identity verification and recovery mechanisms to meet institutional standards.

The collaboration expands the XRP Ledger’s role beyond payments into credit markets while keeping operations under native protocol rules and regulatory-aligned stablecoin settlement.