Ripple and XRPL contributors have outlined a growing set of “institutional DeFi” building blocks on the XRP Ledger aimed at making the network viable for regulated financial activity, according to a Thursday blog.
XRP’s utility as a settlement and bridging asset is highlighted as central to this infrastructure, with uses ranging from forex and stablecoin rails to tokenized collateral and native lending markets.
The latest roadmap highlights features that are already live — such as multi-purpose token standards (MPT), permissioned domains with compliance tools, credential-supported access and batch transactions — along with upcoming releases that extend XRPL to credit markets and privacy protection workflows.
Unlike many smart contract chains that rely on compliance after the fact, XRPL’s approach has been to embed identity and control primitives at the protocol layer.
Allowed domains and credentials enable marketplaces to block participation by verified entities, a requirement institutions often cite as a barrier to onchain integration.
On the payments and currency side, XRP’s role as an automatic bridge between assets continues to be cited as a demand driver, with stable coin corridors and remittance flows increasing onchain volume and fee activity. Token deposits and object reserves denominated in XRP further tie network consumption back to the original asset.
Looking ahead, the introduction of XLS-65/66 – the XRPL lending protocol – is intended to offer pooled and guaranteed credit on the ledger without completely offloading the on-chain risk logic.
Single activation boxes, time-limited lending and optional permission tools are designed to feel familiar to institutional risk managers as they operate in an onchain settlement context.
Privacy features like confidential transfers to MPTs, arriving in the first quarter, aim to satisfy business and regulatory expectations around transaction-level anonymity and controlled disclosure.
Critics have long pointed to XRPL’s lack of EVM-style programmability as an obstacle. The new EVM sidechain – connected via the Axelar network – is intended to address this by allowing Solidity developers to leverage XRPL liquidity and identity features while accessing familiar tools.
XRP prices have fallen 22% over the past seven days, in line with a broader market decline.
