Ripple just poured cash into ZILO and Licuido, two UK firms that handle the unglamorous side of blockchain finance: actually moving assets between accounts and keeping regulators happy. The moves target what Nigel Khakoo, Ripple's senior VP for trading, calls the real work, tokenization that matters beyond parking coins on a ledger.
Here's what changes. ZILO handles transfer agency and fund administration on-chain without touching shareholder records kept by regulators. Licuido, FCA-regulated, does issuance, trading, and lets institutions use traditional assets as digital collateral with atomic settlement. Together they plug gaps in XRPL that kept institutions from actually using tokenized funds instead of just discussing them.
The timing fits. Aviva Investors just became the first European fund manager to tokenize a traditional fund on XRPL, with Ireland's central bank signing off. That's not a press release, that's a regulator betting its credibility on the tech. Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin handles the cash side, delivery-versus-payment in minutes instead of three days. The old system leaves collateral dead weight on balance sheets and settlement happens at a glacial pace. Tokenization fixes that if the plumbing works.
Ripple frames this as modernizing markets clogged by outdated infrastructure. The company needs institutions to move beyond pilots. ZILO and Licuido handle the parts that bore traders but make lawyers sleep at night.
This article is informational only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
