Ripple Just Backed Two Companies — Here Is What They Bring to the XRP Ledger

Ripple announced Monday it has made strategic investments in two financial technology companies — ZILO and Licuido — as part of its effort to build out institutional infrastructure on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). 

According to the announcement, the deals extend existing partnerships between the three companies and are aimed at bringing regulated transfer agency services, digital asset issuance, and collateral mobility to Ripple’s institutional stack.

What the Ripple Deals Cover 

ZILO specializes in transfer agency and fund administration technology for asset managers and custodians. Licuido operates a tokenization and trading platform focused on digital ownership and asset liquidity. 

Ripple said the two companies provide capabilities it considers essential for scaling tokenized fund structures — specifically the regulated record-keeping and collateral portability that institutions need to run lending and settlement operations on-chain.

Deepening our push into capital markets, we are investing in ZILO and Licuido to add regulated transfer agency, issuance and collateral mobility to our capital markets infrastructure built on the XRPL. This comes on the heels of Aviva Investors tokenising its US Dollar Liquidity…

— Ripple (@Ripple) August 3, 2026

According to Ripple, the problem both investments are designed to address is a structural one in traditional capital markets. Collateral sits idle, settlement takes longer than it should, and institutions lack a straightforward path to unlock liquidity in a compliant way. 

Ripple’s infrastructure on the XRP Ledger combines issuance, custody, collateral utility, and settlement — with its RLUSD stablecoin serving as the cash leg for delivery-versus-payment transactions, the company said.

Nigel Khakoo, Ripple’s SVP of Trading and Markets, said the value of tokenization goes beyond the initial conversion of an asset. “Tokenization of assets is only the starting point,” he said. 

“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.” 

The executive also pointed to existing partnerships with Aviva Investors, Franklin Templeton, and DBS as evidence that asset managers are already focused on deploying tokenized fund structures at scale.

XRP Bulls Need $1.06 to Hold 

Phil Goffin, Founder and CEO of ZILO, said Ripple’s investment would allow the company to accelerate its work on digital market infrastructure for institutional clients. 

“As fund structures move onchain, transfer agents and asset managers need infrastructure that can handle tokenized share classes without adding operational risk,” he said.

Brian Lynch, CEO and Co-Founder of Licuido, said tokenization alone only addresses part of the liquidity challenge. “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,” he said. 

XRP was trading at $1.08 at the time of writing, sitting just above what analyst Ali Martinez described as the most critical level on the chart. 

Martinez said $1.06 is the line that determines near-term direction — hold it and bulls can target $1.35 and $1.64, lose it and the path opens toward $0.80 and potentially $0.62.

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