Ripple President Monica Long says the shift in institutional capital markets is no longer a question of timing. Speaking recently, Long argued that the industry has moved past the pilot phase
Ripple President Monica Long says the shift in institutional capital markets is no longer a question of timing. Speaking recently, Long argued that the industry has moved past the pilot phase and into full production deployments on the $XRP Ledger.
Long has been consistent in framing 2026 as a turning point. In a January outlook published on Ripple's website, she wrote that 5 to 10 percent of capital markets settlement is expected to move onchain, driven by regulatory momentum and the adoption of stablecoins by systemically important institutions.Over the last few years, leaders across the crypto industry have laid the technical and regulatory groundwork necessary for long-term adoption, and in 2026, that investment is set to pay off as trusted digital asset infrastructure and expanded utility spur institutional demand, leading more banks, corporates and providers to move from pilot phases into full-scale production.
Ripple has backed that view with concrete moves within the XRPL ecosystem, including supporting ZILO and Liquido to expand tokenized asset infrastructure. The goal, Long has said, is to provide the full stack of digital asset infrastructure, allowing institutional participants to take advantage of the entire lifecycle of a tokenized asset on the XRP Ledger.
The clearest signal of that shift came on July 29, when Aviva Investors, the global asset management arm of UK insurance giant Aviva plc, rolled out a tokenized share class for its US Dollar Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger, becoming the firm's first tokenized investment fund.The Central Bank of Ireland approved the structure, which the firms called a regulatory first for tokenized funds.All underlying assets are held by BNY Mellon. The fund targets low-risk returns and daily liquidity through exposure to high-grade US dollar-denominated short-term debt instruments. Komainu provided regulated institutional digital asset custody and Licuido supplied the tokenization infrastructure for the launch.
The blockchain-based share class offers the same investment strategy, risk profile, daily liquidity and investor protections as the conventional fund while enabling more efficient fund operations through tokenization.The rollout turns their February partnership into a live investment product.The initiative marks Aviva's first tokenization effort and Ripple's first deal with a Europe-based asset manager.
According to RWA.xyz, the XRP Ledger tracked roughly $4.37 billion in real-world assets on July 29, 2026, split between $313.3 million in distributed assets and $4.06 billion in represented assets. Ripple's ambition is to support the full lifecycle of tokenized assets on that infrastructure, from issuance through settlement and beyond.
Sources:Ripple: Monica Long Crypto Predictions and Trends for 2026Crypto Briefing: Aviva Investors debuts first tokenized fund on XRP LedgerCoinDesk: Aviva Investors to tokenize funds on XRP Ledger in Ripple partnership
