Cryptocurrency commentator Paul Barron has highlighted a potential collaboration between Ripple and Ondo Finance that could bring institutional yield products to the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
According to Barron, given current trends in the ecosystem and the strategic goals of both companies, a partnership between Ripple and Ondo Finance is not only possible; it’s highly likely already underway behind the scenes.
Barron argued that Ripple was aggressively promoting its RLUSD stablecoin and institutional custody solution Metaco, therefore the Ondo Summit, to be held in a few days, provided a suitable platform for an official integration announcement.
Ripple’s RLUSD, positioned as a competitor to USDC and USDT, reportedly needs a strong use case for adoption. According to Barron, Ondo’s yield-generating USDY product could fill this gap. In a possible scenario, USDY could become the base yield-generating pair for RLUSD on XRPL. In this model, users could benefit from a “hold RLUSD for payments, instantly convert to USDY and earn yield” approach. It is stated that the interests of Ripple, which is seeking use cases in the DeFi sector, and Ondo, which wants to expand its distribution network, coincide.
Metaco, which Ripple acquired, stands out as a high-end institutional custody infrastructure used by banks such as BBVA and HSBC. Barron argues that Ondo’s announcement that it is holding a portion of the underlying assets of its tokenized funds (OUSG) through Ripple Custody (formerly Metaco) will create a strong “bridge of trust” among banks. This move is seen as sending a significant market message about the reliability of Ondo’s assets.
It is stated that Ondo, which already operates in the Ethereum, Solana, and Mantle ecosystems, could see opening up to XRPL as a logical step to access Ripple’s extensive institutional network. In this scenario, the native availability of OUSG (US Treasury bonds) and USDY on XRPL stands out. According to Barron, a “breakthrough application” could be the ability to instantly mint/redeem Ondo Treasury products 24/7 using XRP or RLUSD. Such a structure could eliminate the T+2 settlement problem, which is often criticized in traditional finance, showcasing XRPL’s speed advantage for real-world assets.
Within Ripple’s core business of cross-border payments, the large amount of idle capital held by banks that does not generate return is also a subject of evaluation. Barron’s scenario involves integrating Ondo’s yield products into RippleNet. According to this plan, banks’ unused balances could be automatically directed to Ondo’s OUSG products, yielding an annual return of around 4-5%.
*This is not investment advice.