BNY adds XRP and RLUSD custody, and C2FO plans faster supplier payments on the XRP Ledger: Ripple's business deals, explained

Most crypto headlines are about prices. Two of Ripple's announcements on October 27, 2026 were about something else: a very old bank holding crypto for its clients, and a plan to pay suppliers within minutes, rather than days, using a stablecoin. Neither is for individuals, but together they show what "real-world utility" looks like in practice.

What was announced

• BNY custody (live). BNY, the bank that has been around for more than 240 years and says it oversees "$63.4 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration" (as of September 30, 2026), says its Digital Asset Custody platform now supports XRP and RLUSD, Ripple's US dollar stablecoin. BNY was already the primary custodian of RLUSD's reserves.
• BNY plans (not live). BNY intends to let its own clients create (mint) and cash in (redeem) RLUSD through BNY itself, and to support more tokenized assets issued on the XRP Ledger. BNY's release says all references in it to intended future product plans are "subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals."
• Trade finance (exploring). Ripple and BNY plan to work on tokenized trade finance using the XRP Ledger, "subject to client requirements," and are exploring a supply chain finance project with C2FO as a first step.
• C2FO Instant Pay (waitlist). C2FO, which calls itself the world's largest working-capital platform, will run the financing and settlement behind its new Instant Pay service on the XRP Ledger, using RLUSD.

Each company confirmed its own side: BNY in its newsroom and on its verified X account, C2FO on its own site.

What custody is, and why a 240-year-old bank matters

Custody means a company holds and protects assets for someone else. When you keep coins on an exchange, the exchange is your custodian. Pension funds, asset managers and banks use custodians too, on a much bigger scale, and they tend to want a regulated, established firm in that role.

That's why this matters. BNY says its platform lets eligible clients "safekeep, hold and transfer digital assets" under the same governance and controls as the rest of its custody business. For a large institution that wants to hold XRP or RLUSD, being able to use a bank it already works with can remove a hurdle. It doesn't mean those institutions will buy anything.

What trade finance and invoice financing are

When a business ships goods to a big customer, it sends an invoice and usually waits to be paid. C2FO says suppliers can wait 30 to 90 days to get paid, which ties up cash a business could be using for payroll and inventory. Trade finance is the industry that fills that gap.

C2FO's Early Pay service lets a supplier get paid early on an approved invoice in exchange for a discount the supplier offers, which the customer has to accept. C2FO says its early payment programs have helped businesses access more than $525 billion in working capital. Ripple's copy of the same release gives a different figure, so treat the exact number as C2FO's own claim.

"Tokenized trade finance" is the next idea. The invoices that are owed (receivables) would be represented as tokens on a blockchain, with the aim of widening which investors can finance them. That part is only being explored.

How a stablecoin speeds up supplier payments

C2FO says that even with early payment, bank settlement can add several more days before the supplier actually has the money. Instant Pay is meant to remove that delay. The money comes from participating capital providers, and the settlement step uses RLUSD on the XRP Ledger. The joint release says the ledger settles transactions in 3 to 5 seconds, for less than a penny, around the clock.

The XRP Ledger runs around the clock, which is part of why the companies are moving settlement onto it. The joint release says suppliers would get funds "in seconds rather than days." C2FO's own product page says funds reach the supplier's bank account "within minutes of invoice confirmation." Neither company explains the gap between the two figures, so "minutes" is the safer expectation. C2FO says the invoice's terms and due date don't change. It hasn't published Instant Pay pricing.

Who can use it

• BNY custody: eligible institutional clients of BNY. Not individual savers.
• Minting and redeeming RLUSD through BNY: BNY clients, once it's approved and built.
• C2FO Instant Pay: businesses that sell to companies on C2FO's platform, in the US first.

What it does not mean

• No change for regular users. Your wallet, exchange account or app works exactly as before. If you want RLUSD in a consumer app, see our post on Ripple's Robinhood deal; that's still only "expected" later this year.
• No FDIC insurance. A bank holding RLUSD in custody doesn't make it a deposit. The FDIC says deposit insurance only covers deposits and lists crypto assets as not covered. For how RLUSD's issuer is regulated, see our post on Ripple's trust bank approval.
• No price signal. Neither announcement says anything about XRP's price, and this isn't a reason to buy or sell. Our RLUSD page covers its reserves and risks.

The takeaway

A long-established bank now supports XRP and RLUSD custody for eligible institutional clients, and a large working-capital platform plans to use a dollar stablecoin to settle faster supplier payments. That's utility: crypto rails doing a boring job faster. Most of it is still plans or a waitlist, so watch for BNY's approvals and Instant Pay's wider rollout. This is education, not financial advice, and it reflects the companies' announcements as of October 27, 2026.

Published October 27, 2026 by Dave McNaught. Educational content, not financial, legal or tax advice. Spot an error? Request a correction.

About the author

Dave McNaught

Dave McNaught has worked in IT since 1999 and founded All Business Technologies (ABT) in 2003, a Boston-area firm providing Managed IT, Cybersecurity, Managed AI, Web Design and App Development. He publishes The Crypto Guide.

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