Tokenization platform Ondo Finance plans to deploy its tokenized US Treasury fund, OUSG, on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) within six months - The headline represents the core XRP bull thesis in 2025: that the XRP network can begin to host an array of financial applications
According to a statement released by Ondo, the planned move will ‘bring OUSG to the XRPL's broad institutional user base, introducing a composable and compliance-first asset to a blockchain built for financial institutions.’ The integration, according to Ondo, ‘establishes an avenue for institutional DeFi and advanced cash management solutions, bringing DeFi and traditional finance closer than ever.’ OUSG, which holds the majority of its assets in BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund (BUIDL), has a current market cap of USD 185M.
The firm has indicated that XRP’s issuer Ripple and Ondo have secured ‘commitments to seed OUSG liquidity upon initial deployment.’ Ondo also points out that a key feature of OUSG on XRPL will be the ‘instant minting and redemption of OUSG via RLUSD, empowering users with round-the-clock liquidity and financial flexibility.’ RLUSD is Ripple’s new stablecoin, with a current market cap of USD 53M. The stablecoin was launched in December.
Ondo claims that the deployment of OUSG on XRPL ‘brings a host of advantages.’ Ondo also points out what it describes as XRPL’s ‘institutional grade security’ and ‘[n]ative compliance features on the XRPL, such as Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and onchain credential management…’ Finally, according to Ondo, ‘XRPL’s high throughput, low fees, and reliability make it a powerful platform for tokenized RWAs, supporting institutional-grade DeFi and treasury management.’
The native token of XRPL, XRP, achieved a record high market cap of USD 190B earlier this month. XRP began 2024 with a market cap of USD 33B. The token has seen previous episodes of aggressive, virtually overnight parabolic gains. In late 2017, early 2018, the token rallied to a local high of USD 120B in days. In the prior bull cycle, the token did not surpass its 2018 market cap, reaching a high of USD 80B in April 2021.
Takeaway: The social media driven XRP community is arguably among the most fervent and dedicated in crypto space. This cohort of investors has adopted BTC’s HODL mantra and have a high degree of conviction for the asset’s outlook, believing XRP will play a crucial role in global finance in the future. The new crypto-friendly regulatory environment in the US has also fueled optimism that the XRP ecosystem can begin to host an array of applications as seen on other networks such as Solana or Ethereum. For XRP proponents, the deployment of Ondo’s OUSG to XRPL will further feed this optimism.
CRYPTO HEADLINES
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Crypto.com will suspend certain stablecoin and staking services in the EU starting January 31, 2025, to comply with the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations. The affected assets include Tether’s USDt, PayPal’s PYUSD, Paxos’ USDP, and Crypto.com’s staked ETH and SOL. - link - @CoinDesk
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FTSE Russell is expanding its indexing to include digital assets and onchain data, partnering with SonarX. This move aims to meet growing institutional demand for crypto data, using onchain metrics to create fundamentally weighted indexes, according to the index provider. - link - @Cointelegraph
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Humanity Protocol raised USD 20M in funding led by Pantera Capital and Jump Crypto, reaching a USD 1.1B valuation. The platform enables digital identity verification to combat online fraud. Funds will scale operations and integrate with web3 platforms. Humanity Protocol raised USD 30M in May 2024 at a USD 1B valuation. - link - @TheBlock
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) has added former Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita, ex-New York Fed President William Dudley, former Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and Allen & Co.'s Luis Alberto Moreno to its global advisory council. Dudley sees blockchain and tokenization as key to modernizing financial systems, aligning with Coinbase’s expansion into payments and tokenized assets, points out Bloomberg. - link - @Bloomberg
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CHART OF THE DAY
Thus far in 2025, the XRPUSDt perp has seen an average daily trading volume of USDt 3.86B on Binance.
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