Ripple Taps Banking Giant BNY Mellon To Secure Dollar Reserves For RLUSD As Market Cap Hits $500 Million

Ripple has appointed the Bank of New York Mellon, one of the oldest and largest custody banks in the world, overseeing $53 trillion of assets, as the primary custodian of reserve assets backing its enterprise-focused stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD). Ripple-BNY Mellon Deal Ripple’s RLUSD has received a significant boost after the San Francisco-based company teamed up with 240-year-old bank, BNY Mellon. The deal aims to boost institutional digital asset adoption, bridging the gap between traditional finance and cryptocurrency. According to the July 9 announcement, BNY will safeguard the stablecoin’s reserves, support the token’s operations with transaction banking services, and aid liquidity management for the reserves that collateralize every RLUSD in circulation. The move seeks to allow holders to redeem the token 1-for-1 for dollars under the same controls that govern traditional money-market funds. “BNY brings together demonstrable custody expertise and a strong commitment to financial innovation in this rapidly changing landscape, as well as a forward-thinking approach to digital asset infrastructure, making them the ideal partner for Ripple and RLUSD,” posited Jack McDonald, who oversees the strategic, product, regulatory, and go-to-market direction of Ripple’s stablecoin initiatives. RLUSD’s custody at BNY is now possible after the bank opened its doors to institutional crypto clients in 2022, after debuting its dedicated digital assets unit back in 2021. Commenting on the deal with Ripple, BNY’s global head of asset servicing, Emily Portney, asserted that the move reflects the bank’s strategy to enable the future of finance through trusted digital asset services. RLUSD Market Cap Surpasses $500 Million Ripple USD, one of the few global stablecoins issued under a New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Trust Company Charter, went live on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger in late December 2024. Unlike other stablecoins designed mainly for retail consumers, RLUSD was “purpose-built for enterprise utility,” with institutions’ needs in mind, BNY Mellon said. RLUSD’s growing adoption comes against a background of the seven-month-old stablecoin hitting a $500 million market cap for the first time. Data from CoinGecko shows that RLUSD’s market cap has grown by about $200 million since the start of June, reflecting an impressive 61% surge. Meanwhile, Ripple applied for a national banking charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The firm also filed for a Federal Reserve master account, which would let it hold RLUSD deposits directly with the central bank and further integrate with the U.S. financial system. XRP was valued at $2.37 at the time of writing, marking a 3.8% jump on the day. Traders may have viewed the BNY Mellon deal as a signal of increasing institutional support.

Source: ZyCrypto