Ripple and Arf are bringing RLUSD-powered settlement liquidity to the XRP Ledger, offering licensed cross-border payment companies short-term funding while transfers settle. The partnership, announced on October 22, 2026, connects Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin with a business that Arf says handles approximately $10 billion in annual settlement volume. A later move into native onchain lending depends on validator approval.
Key takeaways
- Licensed payment firms are the initial borrowers for RLUSD financing.
- Arf’s credit typically runs for one to five days.
- The $10 billion volume figure represents Arf’s existing global business.
- Native XRPL lending requires approval of two protocol amendments.
Ripple and Arf target settlement liquidity gaps
Ripple and Arf’s settlement liquidity arrangement will provide RLUSD-denominated working capital directly on the XRP Ledger, or XRPL. The first phase targets licensed institutions handling remittances, card payments and international transfers; native lending integration is planned for a subsequent phase.
The service addresses a funding gap familiar to cross-border payment companies: they need money available in destination markets before incoming transfers finish settling. These businesses often hold balances across several currencies and banking systems. Arf said conventional credit facilities can demand substantial collateral and take months to arrange, making it difficult to respond as funding needs shift between payment corridors.
Arf’s financing typically lasts one to five days. Borrowers repay the working capital when their payment transactions settle, freeing the funds for another transfer. Under this agreement, RLUSD supplies the settlement capital, while XRP covers transaction fees and applicable reserve requirements.
Participating institutions can use Arf’s existing connections between conventional bank accounts and stablecoin treasury services to obtain financing without operating blockchain systems themselves. RippleX head of product Jasmine Cooper said XRPL’s settlement capabilities and RLUSD’s dollar-denominated structure suit companies needing temporary cross-border liquidity.
Arf brings an established financing operation
Arf co-founder and CEO Ali Erhat Nalbant put the firm’s existing annual settlement volume at approximately $10 billion, with capital turning over four times a month. That figure covers Arf’s global settlement business, rather than transactions already flowing through the Ripple partnership.
“Through this partnership with Ripple, we’re bringing stablecoin working capital to the XRP Ledger,” Nalbant said.
Arf also reports a 0% default rate across more than 1,400 days of operations. The Swiss-regulated working capital provider is a member of VQF, a Swiss self-regulatory organization, and serves licensed institutions. Founded in 2019, it has offices in Zug, Istanbul, London and New York.
The company previously used the Stellar network and merged with Huma Finance in 2024. Its business sits within payment finance, or PayFi, which applies credit and treasury services to payment flows.
In Ripple and Arf’s settlement liquidity model, credit decisions remain outside the blockchain. Arf will continue assessing borrowers, conducting underwriting and managing working capital arrangements, while the proposed native infrastructure would handle funds and loan operations onchain.
Native XRPL lending awaits validator approval
Arf plans to adopt the XRPL native lending protocol after amendments XLS-65 and XLS-66 receive the validator support needed for activation. The lending features are not yet active on mainnet.
XLS-65 would introduce Single Asset Vaults, enabling funds to be pooled and managed on the ledger. XLS-66 would establish the Lending Protocol, allowing structured loans backed by those vaults. Under Arf’s proposed implementation, loans would be disbursed and repaid in RLUSD.
Arf has developed an implementation based on the proposed specifications and is providing technical feedback. The design separates onchain loan administration from offchain identity checks, borrower assessments and legal agreements.
Ripple’s validator backed both amendments in August. A September software update introduced revised lending functionality, but software distribution alone does not activate amendments: each proposal must maintain more than 80% validator support for two consecutive weeks.
Arf will continue as a design partner for the Single Asset Vault and Lending Protocol specifications, with plans to migrate its financing activity to the native infrastructure after both amendments activate.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.