Ripple and DriveWealth announced a partnership on October 14 aimed at connecting traditional investing services with stablecoin settlement and blockchain-based payment rails. DriveWealth, a brokerage infrastructure provider for fintechs and financial institutions worldwide, will work with Ripple across four areas of financial infrastructure: RLUSD stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments, digital asset custody, and institutional equity financing.

The initial rollout of the stablecoin settlement is set to begin in Europe, with a potential extension to the United States afterward. According to the report, Ripple held a video conference with more than 100 partners worldwide to introduce them to the DriveWealth platform. The joint announcement is available on Ripple's official newsroom.

RLUSD Targets Faster Brokerage Funding

The collaboration will initially involve Ripple's stablecoin technology being used within DriveWealth's settlement activities in Europe, potentially extending to the U.S. in the future. RLUSD features on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), with minting and burning capability managed by Ripple.

The arrangement aims to facilitate the transfer of assets into collateral accounts for brokerage clients as an alternative to wire transfers. Under the proposed scheme, investors should be able to place trades with stablecoins that can be repatriated to cash quickly.

The firms are addressing a timing problem in financial markets. U.S. equities have settled on a T+1 cycle since regulators shortened the standard from T+2 in May 2024, and international bank transfers can take several days when routed through correspondent banking chains. These delays can leave capital held up between transactions and create a need for extra liquidity. Stablecoin transfers, by contrast, run on blockchain networks around the clock, including weekends and outside conventional banking cut-off times.

RLUSD Gains Another Institutional Case

RLUSD is Ripple's U.S. dollar stablecoin, pegged to the price of the dollar. Ripple launched the token in December 2024, placing it in a market long dominated by Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, where embedding stablecoins in institutional settlement workflows has become a growing focus for issuers. If integrated into DriveWealth's infrastructure, it will provide a broader solution than crypto trading alone, adding funding and settlement for conventional investment accounts.

The statement did not include specifics regarding expected transactions, a launch date, or the exact timing of the U.S. expansion, leaving the initial European deployment and any word on U.S. timing as the concrete markers of progress.

Four Areas of Financial Infrastructure

The agreement is not limited to stablecoin settlement. By adding support for Ripple Payments, DriveWealth will make it easier to accept funds from its international partners across its global brokerage network.

European digital asset custody for DriveWealth is another focus for the companies, with other markets to be explored over time. DriveWealth and Ripple Prime are separately looking at equity financing programs in the Delta One business covering U.S. equities and equity derivatives, on which Ripple Prime operates.

These efforts are designed to tie payments, custody, treasury, and trading together. DriveWealth additionally plans to place its treasury and custody platform on top of the Ripple network, providing clients with a more integrated approach to managing dollars, stablecoins, and crypto assets.

DriveWealth Network Could Extend Ripple's Reach

DriveWealth offers brokerage-as-a-service infrastructure providing U.S.-market access to more than 100 partners worldwide, including fintech, digital wallet, and financial organizations. That network gives Ripple a potential route to introduce its digital asset services into existing investment platforms rather than relying solely on direct crypto adoption, and it reflects a wider shift in which payments and brokerage infrastructure providers are folding stablecoins into settlement, custody, and treasury operations.

DriveWealth CEO Naureen Hassan said the company had already enabled 24/5 trading and now wanted funding capabilities that better match market access.

The report originally appeared on Crypto Ninjas.