BNY Mellon, a major custody bank responsible for safeguarding the reserves backing Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, has expanded its digital asset offerings to include both XRP and RLUSD for institutional clients on its Digital Asset Custody platform, Ripple stated on October 27.
Expanded asset custody
Eligible institutional clients can now use BNY Mellon’s platform to store and transfer XRP and RLUSD within the bank’s established servicing and controls framework. This addition broadens a longstanding relationship, as BNY Mellon became the primary custodian for RLUSD reserves in July 2025. The bank also has an existing custody partnership with Ripple Prime, Ripple’s institutional crypto trading service.
Ripple announced that both the reserve relationship and the new custody services strengthen its efforts to provide compliant digital asset solutions for institutional players.
Mini dictionary: BNY Mellon is one of the world’s largest custodian banks, providing financial services for institutions and managing large-scale asset servicing, including digital asset custody solutions.
Future plans and regulatory approvals
Looking ahead, BNY Mellon plans to broaden its Digital Asset Custody platform to support more tokenized assets and investment products on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The bank also intends to collaborate with Ripple on a project that would allow clients to mint and redeem RLUSD directly without moving funds outside BNY Mellon. Both initiatives require final approval from the bank and regulators, with no specified launch date.
Ripple’s president, Monica Long, stated that the company aims to make tokenized assets “usable for payments and collateral across financial markets.” Carolyn Weinberg, BNY Mellon’s chief innovation and market transformation officer, noted that the partnership is designed “to shape a more continuous, efficient and resilient financial system.”
Trade finance and supply chain collaboration
The two companies are considering an expansion into tokenized trade finance on XRPL, based on client demand. As an initial step, Ripple and BNY Mellon are working with C2FO, a global working capital marketplace, to explore a supply chain finance project. This initiative is intended to make receivables more accessible to a broader range of investors while maintaining trusted customer relationships.
Mini dictionary: C2FO is a platform that connects businesses with funding and liquidity solutions for managing receivables, helping optimize working capital for companies across global supply chains.
C2FO’s president and chief operating officer for the Americas, Ragui Selwanes, emphasized the potential to “broaden access to capital while preserving the relationships and experience our customers already trust.”
Regulatory landscape and RLUSD metrics
The announcement followed Ripple’s recent final federal approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, which is expected to manage segregated reserves for RLUSD. Ripple did not provide details about how the trust bank’s new responsibilities would impact BNY Mellon’s role as primary reserve custodian.
As of Wednesday, RLUSD’s market capitalization stood at approximately $2.6 billion, according to data from CoinGecko, slightly higher than the $2.5 billion figure cited by Ripple in its announcement. Ripple indicated that more than 4.6 billion transactions have been processed on the XRP Ledger so far, with settlement times between three and five seconds.
| Metric | RLUSD | XRPL (network) |
|---|---|---|
| Market capitalization | $2.6 billion | N/A |
| Transactions processed | N/A | 4.6 billion+ |
| Settlement time | N/A | 3-5 seconds |
