Ripple backs UK pair ZILO and Licuido in push to build regulated tokenization stack on XRP Ledger
Ripple backs UK pair ZILO and Licuido in push to build regulated tokenization stack on XRP Ledger #
Ripple has taken stakes in two UK-based digital capital markets firms, ZILO and Licuido, as it works to build out the regulated infrastructure needed to make tokenized financial assets usable as collateral on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
The investments, announced in London on August 3, formalise partnerships already underway. Both firms contributed earlier this year when Aviva Investors launched a tokenized share class of its US Dollar Liquidity Fund on the XRPL. Ripple defined the token standard while ZILO and Licuido provided transfer agency, issuance, and custody capabilities.
ZILO specialises in global transfer agency and fund administration technology, supplying asset managers, custodians, and transfer agents with digital record-keeping infrastructure for tokenized share classes. The company also launched an integrated digital assets and transfer agency platform on Monday. ZILO has raised approximately $58.7 million in equity funding to date, according to data compiled by Traxcn.
Licuido is an FCA-supervised tokenization and trading platform focused on the issuance, distribution, and secondary trading of tokenized financial assets. Its model allows fund shares and other traditional instruments to function as on-chain collateral, settling against Ripple’s RLUSD dollar-pegged stablecoin through delivery-versus-payment transactions on the XRPL.
Nigel Khakoo, SVP of Trading and Markets at Ripple, said the real prize in tokenization lies beyond simply putting assets on-chain. The ability to buy, sell, settle instantly, and post assets as collateral is where the structural shift for capital markets comes in, he said. He added that Ripple’s partnerships with Aviva Investors, Franklin Templeton, and DBS reflect how asset managers are already deploying tokenized fund structures at scale.
Phil Goffin, Founder and CEO of ZILO, said that as fund structures migrate on-chain, transfer agents need systems that handle tokenized share classes without adding operational risk or complexity. Brian Lynch, CEO and Co-Founder of Licuido, said Ripple’s backing will allow the firm to scale its collateral marketplace on the XRPL, helping institutions put previously idle balance-sheet assets to work.
Ripple did not disclose the size of either investment or the ownership stakes acquired. The XRPL currently holds around $368 million in tokenized real-world assets, ranking it eleventh among blockchain networks, with Ethereum leading at roughly $17 billion, according to RWA.xyz data.
Both firms are expected to interoperate with RLUSD, Ripple’s regulated stablecoin, to support atomic on-ledger settlement as institutional tokenization activity on the network grows.
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