Ripple has appointed BNY Mellon as the primary custodian of the reserves backing Ripple USD (RLUSD), the firm’s newly launched enterprise-focused stablecoin. Ripple intends to establish RLUSD within a regulated financial infrastructure and align it with institutional expectations around compliance, transparency and operational integrity.
According to an official statement from BNY Mellon, the bank will manage the US dollar reserves that support RLUSD on a one-to-one basis. It will also provide integrated transaction banking services to facilitate fiat conversion and settlement — a critical operational layer for RLUSD’s use in cross-border transactions.
“BNY Mellon brings demonstrable custody expertise and a strong commitment to financial innovation, making them the ideal partner,” said Jack McDonald, SVP of Stablecoins at Ripple. “RLUSD is designed to meet the rigorous standards of leading financial institutions.” Emily Portney, Global Head of Asset Servicing at BNY Mellon, added that the bank was “thrilled to support the growth and adoption of RLUSD by facilitating the seamless movement of reserve assets and cash to support conversions.”
RLUSD is issued under a New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) trust charter and is fully backed by US dollar reserves. Unlike retail-focused stablecoins, it is designed to meet the needs of banks, payments companies and other regulated financial institutions seeking faster, lower-cost cross-border solutions with built-in auditability and compliance.
The partnership builds on BNY Mellon’s growing stablecoin custody franchise. Since 2022, the bank has held reserves for Circle’s USDC, and in June, it was also appointed custodian for Société Générale’s CoinVertible, a euro-denominated institutional stablecoin. According to Banking Dive, the RLUSD mandate reflects the increasing traction stablecoins are gaining within traditional finance and deepens BNY Mellon’s role in providing the underlying infrastructure to support them. BNY Mellon’s role in both custody and transaction processing aligns with Ripple’s aim to build an institutional-grade platform for digital assets.
Ripple is also in the process of applying for a US banking licence and a Federal Reserve master account. These efforts, if successful, would enable the company to offer real-time payment settlement and deepen its integration with core elements of the US financial system. RLUSD’s circulating supply has surpassed USD 500 million, driven by early institutional adoption and growing demand for stablecoin-based rails that meet regulatory standards.
The announcement follows the dismissal of all remaining charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Ripple and its executives. With that legal overhang resolved, the firm is reasserting its long-term vision of supporting tokenised real-world assets and building interoperable payment networks for regulated entities. The recent passage of the GENIUS Act in the US Senate — a bill that introduces stricter standards for reserve management, audits and federal oversight of stablecoin issuers — has only heightened the urgency for compliant infrastructure.
With BNY Mellon now in place as reserve custodian, RLUSD gains a crucial layer of credibility as Ripple seeks to scale its institutional footprint. The tie-up demonstrates how traditional financial institutions and digital asset innovators are beginning to converge around practical, regulated tools for value exchange.
