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BFD Expert Voices - Private Credit

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Ripple is positioning itself as a one-stop infrastructure provider for moving money in real time, president Monica Long tells Axios.

Why it matters: The crypto services company wants to own more of the financial plumbing behind global payments.

Driving the news: Ripple announced $500 million in new funding led by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities on Wednesday morning.

Over the past year, it has been on a tear — acquiring GTreasury, Hidden Road (rebranded as Ripple Prime), Palisade, and Rail to integrate corporate treasury, prime brokerage, custody, and payout services. 

(This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.)

How are enterprise customers actually using Ripple today?

"Banks, PSPs and corporates use us for real-time cross-border payouts and 24/7 treasury funding — now available in more than 50 markets. 

In places like Australia and Singapore, partners are funding accounts around the clock across currencies — something that wasn't practical a few years ago."

What's the overall strategy for all these acquisitions, and how do they fit together?

"There are two goals. One is filling product gaps for an end-to-end payments stack: GTreasury adds corporate treasury tools, Rail provides virtual accounts and collections, and Palisade brings MPC custody — all plugged into Ripple Payments. 

The second is expanding into new lines like Hidden Road for institutional liquidity and prime services."

With so many acquisitions done in short succession, how will integration work across such different businesses?

"Rail and Palisade are being tightly integrated so customers get one seamless experience. 

Ripple Prime and GTreasury will stay more independent because they serve different users, but we'll cross-sell between them — custody and liquidity for funds, treasury and real-time funding for corporates."

Why launch your own stablecoin, RLUSD, instead of partnering with an existing issuer?

"Payments are our core, and stablecoins are now essential to how those flows move. 

Owning RLUSD allows us to manage the entire experience — including licensing, accounts, and payouts — and provide transparency through segregated reserves and monthly independent attestations. 

We're also seeing RLUSD start to be recognized as eligible collateral in some venues."

How do you determine when to use RLUSD versus XRP for money movement?

"A large share of our payment flows now run through RLUSD. XRP increasingly acts as a bridge asset when currency pairs lack direct liquidity, and we're exploring it as collateral with some institutions."

"We applied for an OCC trust-bank charter to manage RLUSD and custody within a federal framework. It's not about taking deposits; it's about consistent oversight and potentially accessing Fed rails for settlement."

Looking out over the next 12 months, what are you focused on?

"Three things: continued growth in stablecoin payments, broader use of on-chain collateral, and tangible wins from our M&A integrations as customers start using multiple Ripple products together."

Ripple president Monica Long on company's M&A spree

The company wants to own more of the financial plumbing behind global payments.

Photo illustration of Monica Long next to the Ripple logo and abstract shapes.

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Ripple

Ripple is positioning itself as a one-stop infrastructure provider for moving money in real time, president Monica Long tells Axios.Why it matters: The crypto services company wants to own more of the financial plumbing behind global payments.

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Ripple president Monica Long on company's M&A spree

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