Ripple backs RLUSD lending on XRP Ledger with Clearpool, Cicada

Ripple, Clearpool and Cicada Partners are launching an institutional RLUSD lending initiative on the XRP Ledger aimed at providing working-capital loans to fintechs, payments firms and crypto businesses. Clearpool will build the lending infrastructure, Cicada will originate and manage credit, and Ripple will provide capital and onchain settlement infrastructure while investing alongside other limited partners on equal terms; Ripple will not serve as a credit backstop.

Clearpool says it has facilitated more than $930 million in institutional loans since 2021. Cicada Partners reports it has underwritten more than $860 million in credit and will act as the fund general partner and credit pool manager, responsible for sourcing borrowers, setting covenants and monitoring credit quality.

Loans will be denominated in RLUSD, Ripple’s regulated dollar stablecoin, and are expected to target companies that already use stablecoins for treasury operations and cross-border payments. Lenders in the pool would receive returns from borrower interest rather than from trading strategies, liquidity incentives or arbitrage. The project partners estimate that roughly 98% of existing DeFi yield is generated by market mechanisms rather than direct lending to operating businesses.

The lending features are not yet active on XRPL mainnet. Clearpool is testing integration on Devnet while two amendments, the Lending Protocol (XLS-66) and Single Asset Vaults (XLS-65), are undergoing the ledger’s amendment voting process. If those proposals are approved, loan issuance, repayments and vault accounting could run natively on XRPL instead of relying on external smart contracts.

The planned system would use XRPL governance tools such as Permissioned Domains, Credentials and Clawback to limit participation to verified institutions and to meet compliance requirements. XRP will remain the ledger’s native asset for transaction fees and reserve requirements. The partners say the structure keeps settlement onchain while connecting credit to businesses with real operating needs.

If the technical changes win approval and institutional borrowers participate, the initiative would enable XRPL to support onchain private credit and provide another channel of institutional capital for corporate borrowers and lenders seeking interest-based returns.