A long-established British bank locks $2.45 billion worth of stablecoins in its own vault 🏦
🚨 行情变了群里说
Standard Chartered’s Dubai branch has announced that it will begin providing custody for RLUSD, the stablecoin issued by Ripple, for institutional clients. The version in custody runs directly on the XRP Ledger. The clients are institutions regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The bank won’t just safeguard the assets—it will also have the authority to monitor, freeze, and dispose of the funds.
The next step is even more significant: Standard Chartered plans to connect with an institutional trading platform in London, allowing institutions to use these stablecoins directly as trading margin through what’s known as “collateral mirroring.” The coins stay in Standard Chartered’s custody account, while the trading platform records an equivalent mirrored balance. The coins don’t have to move at all 💰
This design addresses one of the industry’s biggest pain points. In the past, when exchanges collapsed, customers’ collateral held there went down with them. Now, collateral can be locked up with a bank considered too big to fail. Even if the trading platform runs into trouble, the coins remain on Standard Chartered’s books. Standard Chartered is one of the 29 global systemically important banks designated by the Financial Stability Board, and faces some of the strictest capital requirements ⚖️
But the market is still small. RLUSD has a market cap of around $2.45 billion, accounting for less than 1% of the roughly $306 billion stablecoin market. It launched in December 2024 and runs on both Ethereum and the XRP Ledger. This custody service covers only the XRP Ledger version, which received regulatory approval in Dubai just this June 🦖
What’s really worth noting is the bank’s roadmap. It began offering crypto custody in Dubai in 2024. This July, it became the first global systemically important bank in the world to let institutions mint and redeem Circle’s USDC directly. Now it’s bringing Ripple’s stablecoin on board too, connecting the dots between stablecoin custody, minting, collateral, and settlement.
My take: the next stablecoin battle won’t be fought on exchanges, but on bank balance sheets. Once licensed banks take over custody, minting and redemption, and settlement, stablecoins will evolve from a way to transfer money within the crypto world into a standard component of institutional financial infrastructure. Retail investors may not notice much in the short term, but this will determine whether institutional capital dares to enter the market in earnest next time around.
Do you think having banks custody stablecoins makes them safer for institutions, or does it just move the risk somewhere else? Let’s talk in the comments.
Tap the profile picture to watch the livestream.
Every day, I bring you updates on stablecoins and macro trends—not just what’s happening, but the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀
🚨 行情变了群里说
Standard Chartered’s Dubai branch has announced that it will begin providing custody for RLUSD, the stablecoin issued by Ripple, for institutional clients. The version in custody runs directly on the XRP Ledger. The clients are institutions regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The bank won’t just safeguard the assets—it will also have the authority to monitor, freeze, and dispose of the funds.
The next step is even more significant: Standard Chartered plans to connect with an institutional trading platform in London, allowing institutions to use these stablecoins directly as trading margin through what’s known as “collateral mirroring.” The coins stay in Standard Chartered’s custody account, while the trading platform records an equivalent mirrored balance. The coins don’t have to move at all 💰
This design addresses one of the industry’s biggest pain points. In the past, when exchanges collapsed, customers’ collateral held there went down with them. Now, collateral can be locked up with a bank considered too big to fail. Even if the trading platform runs into trouble, the coins remain on Standard Chartered’s books. Standard Chartered is one of the 29 global systemically important banks designated by the Financial Stability Board, and faces some of the strictest capital requirements ⚖️
But the market is still small. RLUSD has a market cap of around $2.45 billion, accounting for less than 1% of the roughly $306 billion stablecoin market. It launched in December 2024 and runs on both Ethereum and the XRP Ledger. This custody service covers only the XRP Ledger version, which received regulatory approval in Dubai just this June 🦖
What’s really worth noting is the bank’s roadmap. It began offering crypto custody in Dubai in 2024. This July, it became the first global systemically important bank in the world to let institutions mint and redeem Circle’s USDC directly. Now it’s bringing Ripple’s stablecoin on board too, connecting the dots between stablecoin custody, minting, collateral, and settlement.
My take: the next stablecoin battle won’t be fought on exchanges, but on bank balance sheets. Once licensed banks take over custody, minting and redemption, and settlement, stablecoins will evolve from a way to transfer money within the crypto world into a standard component of institutional financial infrastructure. Retail investors may not notice much in the short term, but this will determine whether institutional capital dares to enter the market in earnest next time around.
Do you think having banks custody stablecoins makes them safer for institutions, or does it just move the risk somewhere else? Let’s talk in the comments.
Tap the profile picture to watch the livestream.
Every day, I bring you updates on stablecoins and macro trends—not just what’s happening, but the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀