Standard Chartered launches RLUSD custody on XRP Ledger

Standard Chartered launched institutional custody for Ripple USD (RLUSD) issued on the XRP Ledger through its Dubai branch on Oct. 12. The bank’s planned service allowing clients to use RLUSD as trading collateral on LMAX Group venues has not launched.

The custody service is available through Standard Chartered Bank’s branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre, which is supervised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Eligible clients that already use the bank’s digital-asset custody infrastructure can hold RLUSD on the XRP Ledger.

The XRP Ledger is a public blockchain designed for fast, low-cost settlement. Standard Chartered said clients can manage RLUSD through its existing custody systems.

Waqar Chaudry, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets, said institutional clients want to participate in digital-asset markets while maintaining controls over asset security and risk. Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president of stablecoins, described RLUSD as designed for institutional use.

Standard Chartered is working with Ripple and LMAX Group on a separate collateral service based on the bank’s “collateral mirroring” model. The planned arrangement would let eligible RLUSD holdings support trading positions on LMAX venues without transferring the tokens out of Standard Chartered’s custody.

The collateral service remains subject to documentation, testing, legal and regulatory reviews, and internal approvals. The companies have not provided a launch date. Luke Dorney, LMAX Group’s head of custody for digital assets, said the model would give clients more flexibility in holding and using RLUSD while keeping the assets in custody.

The partnership follows an agreement Ripple and LMAX announced in January 2026 to expand institutional use of RLUSD. Standard Chartered already offers institutional spot trading in Bitcoin and Ether in the United Arab Emirates.

RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a Ripple subsidiary supervised by the New York Department of Financial Services. The stablecoin is backed one-to-one by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasury bills and cash equivalents. It exceeded $1 billion in market capitalization within its first year after launch.

XRP, the XRP Ledger’s native asset, traded near $1.37 on Oct. 12.