Ripple-Backed RLUSD Fund Launches as XRP Enjoys Major Weekly Rally
- Ripple is supporting a new institutional lending fund that will use RLUSD to extend working-capital loans to fintech and payments companies through the XRP Ledger.
- The initiative is being developed with Clearpool and Cicada Partners. Cicada will source borrowers, set loan terms and monitor credit risk, while Clearpool will build and operate the infrastructure behind the lending pools.
- Ripple will participate as an institutional investor alongside other backers. Neither the fund’s total size nor Ripple’s investment amount has been disclosed.
- The project is still in development and has not launched on the XRP Ledger mainnet. Clearpool is testing the integration on a development network, while the XLS-66 lending protocol and XLS-65 single-asset vaults remain subject to XRPL’s amendment voting process.
- XLS-66 is intended to support loan origination and repayments directly on the XRP Ledger. XLS-65 would allow multiple lenders to pool capital under the control of a designated manager, with Cicada handling that role for the fund.
- Cicada said it has already underwritten more than $860 million in credit and will serve as the fund’s general partner and credit-pool manager. Clearpool said it has facilitated more than $930 million in institutional lending since 2021.
- Ripple will act as a limited partner and invest on the same terms as other participants rather than guaranteeing the fund against losses.
- The fund will lend RLUSD to borrowers, who will also repay in the stablecoin. This could increase RLUSD usage while bringing more institutional credit activity onto XRPL.
- XRP will not be used as the lending asset. Instead, it will remain necessary for network transaction fees and the minimum balances required for XRPL accounts.
- The announcement comes as XRP posts a sharp recovery. The token rose nearly 20% over 24 hours to around $1.30 and was up approximately 30% over the previous week.
- XRP’s gains form part of a wider crypto rally that accelerated after the U.S. Treasury announced plans to double its long-term bond buyback operations.
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