Ripple, a leading enterprise blockchain solutions provider, has partnered with Arf, a Swiss financial technology firm, to deliver stablecoin-powered financing on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). This collaboration aims to connect the XRPL blockchain with Arf’s existing payment operations, which handle approximately $10 billion in settlement volume each year.
Stablecoin-Powered Working Capital Solutions
Arf announced on October 22 that it will use Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin to provide short-term working capital for licensed cross-border payment companies. These financing arrangements typically last between one and five days, enabling companies to quickly reuse capital as international settlements close.
Cross-border remittance providers often require instant access to liquidity in destination markets, even before customer transactions finalize. With billions of dollars moving across various currencies and banking frameworks, this need often causes a liquidity shortfall.
Arf addresses this challenge by supplying settlement liquidity: it advances funds during payment processing and recovers the amount once transactions complete. The company reports that its working capital cycles about four times per month, helping the same pool of funds to back numerous transactions.
Arf said it will directly supply RLUSD-denominated liquidity on XRPL and retain control over lending decisions and borrower evaluations under the partnership.
The deal builds on Ripple’s recent collaboration with financial infrastructure firm DriveWealth, which linked RLUSD with a brokerage funding platform serving more than 100 institutional partners.
Ripple has also strengthened XRPL’s payment ecosystem through integrations like Stripe-owned Privy, which bring support for embedded wallets and automated crypto transactions.
Onchain Lending Protocol Proposed for XRPL
Looking ahead, Ripple and Arf are exploring broader onchain financing through the XRPL’s proposed native lending infrastructure. This development could eventually allow Arf to conduct a greater share of its financing directly on the blockchain network.
The proposed architecture includes Single Asset Vaults—pools that collect working capital—and a Lending Protocol optimized for structured loan arrangements. Unlike many decentralized finance platforms, this model is designed around offchain credit assessment and underwriting, reducing reliance on excessive collateral requirements.
Arf has already begun building services based on this proposed infrastructure. However, the project’s deployment depends on achieving sufficient votes from XRPL validators.
As of October 20, validator support for the new modules remained below the required threshold: just 19 validators supported LendingProtocol and 21 for SingleAssetVault, while 29 votes were needed.
This initiative follows Ripple’s earlier institutional credit efforts in partnership with Clearpool and Cicada Partners, which also used RLUSD to finance operational business needs on blockchain rails.
Mini dictionary: Arf is a Swiss fintech firm offering digital liquidity and settlement services to licensed financial institutions, specializing in real-time cross-border payment solutions.
| Feature | RLUSD on XRPL | Traditional Settlement |
|---|---|---|
| Liquidity type | Stablecoin-based (RLUSD) | Bank-based fiat |
| Capital reuse cycle | 1–5 days | Several days to weeks |
| Global reach | Onchain, cross-border | Country specific, often fragmented |
