Standard Chartered brings Ripple’s RLUSD into banking custody after $765 million quarterly surge

Standard Chartered has launched custody for Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin as it prepares to expand its use as collateral for institutional trading.

On Oct. 12, the bank announced that eligible institutional clients can now hold RLUSD issued on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) through its Dubai International Financial Center branch, regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

The launch forms part of a broader arrangement with Ripple and trading group LMAX that would allow institutions to use RLUSD as collateral while keeping their stablecoin holdings with Standard Chartered.

Under the proposed model, the bank would mirror the value of eligible RLUSD holdings to LMAX, enabling clients to support trading positions without transferring the underlying tokens directly to the venue.

The arrangement could reduce counterparty exposure and operational risks associated with moving assets between custodians and exchanges, while allowing institutions to deploy capital across trading activities.

The development comes as RLUSD emerges as one of the fastest-growing stablecoins by absolute market value added, reflecting Ripple's efforts to expand its use across financial markets.

According to RWA Foundation, Ripple recorded the second-largest increase in stablecoin market capitalization during the third quarter, adding $765.3 million over 90 days.

Only Circle's USDC posted a larger increase, $915 million, while United Stables ranked third at $474.2 million.

Data from DeFiLlama shows RLUSD's total circulating supply has since climbed to about $2.4 billion, with about $1.14 billion issued on XRPL and another $1.3 billion on Ethereum.

The expansion gives Ripple a larger pool of dollar-denominated tokens as it seeks to establish RLUSD beyond payments and transfers, including as collateral for institutional trading.

That effort gained momentum in January when Ripple and LMAX announced a multiyear partnership to integrate RLUSD across the trading group's infrastructure.

Ripple committed $150 million in financing to support LMAX's expansion, with the agreement targeting RLUSD adoption across spot cryptocurrency trading, perpetual futures, contracts for difference, and other institutional products.

Standard Chartered's involvement adds a traditional banking custody channel to the arrangement, allowing participating institutions to maintain custody arrangements with the bank while accessing LMAX's trading infrastructure.

Waqar Chaudry, Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets in Securities Services, said institutional investors increasingly want to participate in digital asset markets without compromising asset safeguarding and risk management.

For Ripple, accepting RLUSD as trading collateral could drive additional demand from banks, brokers, and investment firms that need dollar-denominated assets to support their positions.

However, the commercial impact will depend on how widely institutions adopt the arrangement and which LMAX products ultimately accept the stablecoin.

Standard Chartered has not disclosed the amount of RLUSD held in custody or identified participating institutional clients.

The companies have also not announced when the collateral integration will become operational. Implementation remains subject to final documentation, technical testing, regulatory requirements and internal approvals across relevant jurisdictions.

Those remaining steps will determine when institutions can begin using RLUSD held at Standard Chartered to support trading positions on LMAX.

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