Ripple and Ondo Finance partner to bring tokenized U.S. treasuries to XRP ledger

Ripple Labs and Ondo Finance have announced a partnership to bring tokenized U.S. Treasury securities to the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The collaboration will reportedly see Ondo Finance’s $185 million US Treasury token, OUSG, integrated into the enterprise-focused blockchain network within the next six months.

In a January 28 press release, Ripple Labs confirmed its new venture with the tokenized real world assets (RWA) issuer, stating that Ondo Short-Term U.S. Government Treasuries (OUSG) will be backed by the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). 

Ripple and @OndoFinance are bringing OUSG, tokenized U.S. Treasuries to the XRP Ledger.

With 24/7 minting & redemption using RLUSD, unmatched liquidity, and institutional-grade security, learn how this partnership marks a major step forward for onchain RWAs.… pic.twitter.com/0T3mXGSxbW

— RippleX (@RippleXDev) January 28, 2025

The OUSG token will allow institutional investors to access short-term US government treasury securities on the XRP Ledger. 

“XRPL is uniquely positioned to enable institutions to bring traditional financial assets onchain, offering enhanced security, verifiable trust, and new revenue-generating opportunities.” The release denoted.

Following the news, Ondo Finance’s token (ONDO) has surged by 5% from values seen a day ago and is now changing hands at $1.39, per Coingecko updates. Its market cap has also experienced an uptick by 4.2%, going just above the $4.3 billion mark.

Ripple adds use case to its stablecoin RLUSD

Per the recent press briefing, Ripple Labs revealed that through its December 2024-launched stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), investors will be able to mint and redeem OUSG tokens instantaneously at any time, any day of the week. 

Markus Infanger, Senior Vice President at RippleX, the XRPL development division, expounded on the importance of tokenized RWA, saying they bolster financial inclusion while providing “stability” to digital currency markets.

“The 24/7 intraday settlement enabled by tokenized assets like OUSG marks a transformative shift in capital flow management, breaking free from traditional trading hours and slow settlements.” 

Some news sources have revealed that both Ripple and Ondo Finance committed initial seed investments to provide liquidity for OUSG on the XRP Ledger. However, the size of these investments was not disclosed.

Katie Wheeler, Vice President of Partnerships at Ondo Finance, said the integration is a pivotal step in bridging institutional-grade financial products with blockchain technology. The RWA tokenization platform boasts of becoming the first platform in the US Treasuries sector to surpass $600M in total value locked (TVL).

“This integration is the natural convergence of a compliance-first, yield-bearing product with a network purpose-built for institutional adoption,” Wheeler said. “It sets the groundwork for forward-thinking institutions to lead a new era of capital markets onchain.”

XRPL extends RWA tokenization market trend 

Ondo Finance will be the second company to bring its tokenized US treasury assets to XRP’s blockchain network. In August 2024, OpenEden introduced tokenized US Treasury bills (T-bills), which are short-term U.S. government debt obligations, to the XRPL. 

“Institutions are increasingly looking at where to tokenize their real-world assets, and the arrival of T-bills on the XRPL powered by OpenEden reinforces the decentralized Layer 1 blockchain as one of the leading blockchains for real-world asset tokenization,” said RippleX Senior VP Infanger.

Ripple has shed light on the growth potential of the RWA tokenization market. The firm cited the Boston Consulting Group’s recent predictions that the market will grow to $16T by 2030.

Throughout 2024, these assets saw unprecedented growth, with the total value locked surpassing $176B, according to research done by the Tokenized Asset Coalition (TAC).

The value marked a 32% increase year-to-date, driven by a 53% surge in non-stablecoin tokenized assets.

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