Ripple Invests in Zilo, Licuido to Expand XRP Ledger Infrastructure
Ripple has announced strategic investments in ZILO, which specialises in global transfer agency asset technology solutions for asset managers and wealth managers.
In an official statement, Ripple said it also staked a bet on Licuido, a tokenisation solution and FCA-regulated trading platform for digital ownership and asset liquidity.
Ripple’s investments in ZILO and Licuido build on existing partnerships between the companies. Together, these deals are bringing regulated transfer agency, issuance, and collateral mobility to Ripple’s infrastructure on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
According to Ripple, global capital markets are built on infrastructure that predates the rise of institutional-grade digital assets.
Issuers, investors and liquidity providers all face the same constraints: collateral that sits idle instead of being put to work, settlement that takes longer than it should, and no easy way to unlock liquidity and mobilise collateral securely, confidentially, and compliantly, Ripple said.
Ripple said its infrastructure for institutional investors and issuers is designed to solve these problems, combining issuance, custody, collateral utility, multi-currency-enabled investment, and atomic settlement – with Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD as the regulated cash leg for delivery-versus-payment transactions.
Tokenised funds can be used as collateral from the point of issuance, and trades settle atomically on the XRPL, a public blockchain designed for fast, secure and efficient global financial transactions. This provides institutions with a single, consistent operating model, available anytime, anywhere.
“Tokenisation of assets is only the starting point: the real value lies in what can be done with a token, including buying, selling, and settling trades instantly, or using it as collateral to borrow, lend, or post margin,” said Nigel Khakoo, SVP, Trading and Markets at Ripple.
“Our partnerships with Aviva Investors, Franklin Templeton and DBS demonstrate how asset managers are focused on deploying tokenised fund structures at scale.
ZILO and Licuido provide core capabilities that are essential to further scaling this shift: regulated digital transfer agency infrastructure and liquidity for issuance and collateral mobility.
“This is just the beginning of the journey and we see a substantial opportunity to bring huge efficiencies to the investment sector over the next decade.”
ZILO’s transfer agency and fund administration technology provides asset managers, custodians, and transfer agents with modern, digital record-keeping that supports tokenised share classes as funds move onchain, giving institutions the regulated record they need to run lending and collateral markets with confidence.
“Licuido’s platform gives traditional financial assets, including fund shares, the same portability and utility already available to other asset classes. It manages the issuance, distribution, and execution of these assets, so they can move freely as digital collateral through onchain atomic settlement infrastructure.
“As fund structures move onchain, transfer agents and asset managers need infrastructure that can handle tokenised share classes without adding operational risk,” said Phil Goffin, Founder and CEO at ZILO. “Ripple’s investment enables us to accelerate that work by bringing digital market utility and efficiency directly into our platform for the institutions we serve.”
“Tokenisation, by itself, only solves part of the challenge of unlocking liquidity. Licuido’s platform allows clients to take the next step by delivering issuance, distribution and utility within a controlled, confidential, and regulated digital capital markets platform,” said Brian Lynch, CEO and Co-Founder at Licuido.
“Ripple’s backing helps us to scale that infrastructure and our collateral marketplace, on the XRPL, helping institutions turn assets that have sat idle on their balance sheets into liquidity they can actually use.”
The investments support Ripple’s efforts to bring traditional financial assets with real utility to the XRPL. Earlier this year, Ripple announced a collaboration with Aviva Investors to tokenise traditional fund structures on the XRPL, with Ripple defining the token standard and working with partners including ZILO and Licuido to build regulated issuance, distribution, custody and further use cases for those assets.
The XRPL’s speed, security, low and predictable fees, and compliance tools, along with its lack of energy-intensive mining, allow asset managers to issue and manage tokenised funds securely and efficiently at scale.
Since 2012, the XRPL has processed more than four billion transactions, supports over seven million active wallets, and is maintained by 120 independent validators.
