Ripple's entry into the global private credit market, valued at more than $10 billion, will begin with a major upgrade to XRP Ledger (XRPL). RippleX developers have announced the addition of an institutional lending feature in partnership with Clearpool Finance and Cicada Partners.
While 98% of yield in the DeFi industry is generated through the speculative circulation of loans within the crypto market itself, this initiative offers lending to real-world businesses — fintech and payment companies that need working capital.
Through this solution, the partners plan to attract a portion of the capital from the tokenized private credit sector to the network.
For XRP holders, the value of the upgrade lies in the growth of network activity and token utility. Borrowers will take out loans in the new regulated stablecoin RLUSD, protected by NYDFS oversight and custody at the Bank of New York.
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Mechanics of the RLUSD Flywheel on XRP Ledger. Source: RippleX, Cicada, and Clearpool via X.com
At the same time, all operations within the lending system — including the creation of pools, loan issuance, and repayments — will technically take place on XRPL. This means that every transaction requires the use of the native XRP token to pay network fees and maintain mandatory wallet reserves, directly expanding the coin's practical use within the ecosystem.
From a security perspective, the developers have rejected the use of vulnerable third-party smart contracts. The lending logic will be integrated directly into the blockchain's base protocol through the native XLS-65 (Single Asset Vaults) and XLS-66 (Lending Protocol) amendments.
Protection through code: How investors will be protected and when the network will launch
Ripple itself participates in the lending fund as a regular investor, with the same rights and risks as third-party institutions on a “pari passu” basis, rather than acting as a financial guarantor. To protect institutional capital, the code includes compliance tools such as digital participant identities and the Clawback function for the forced return of funds.
Clearpool is currently testing end-to-end user scenarios on Devnet. The platform's final deployment on Mainnet depends entirely on the outcome of decentralized voting: independent XRPL validators must approve and activate the XLS-65 and XLS-66 amendments.