The turn of the year signifies motivated new beginnings, and Ripple has hit the ground running in 2025 with multiple advances to its cross-border payments solution. Additionally, industry players across the US are enthusiastic about what the next four years has in store as a progressive crypto administration takes office.
Financial institutions that are eager to stay ahead of the curve are moving to capitalize on crypto—both to diversify portfolios and to optimize efficiency through blockchain solutions. Crypto-enabled cross-border payments is one use case that has proven valuable to global finance leaders, more than 90% of which believe blockchain and digital assets will have a massive or significant impact on finance in the next three years.
Ripple, the leading provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, has recently secured key Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) in New York and Texas—two states where Ripple has seen strong demand for real-time global payments from both banks and crypto businesses—bringing the total to more than 50 MTLs. Texas and New York have defined regulations and stringent licensing requirements with robust compliance standards and regulatory oversight.
With more than 60 licenses globally, Ripple can offer customers access to a seamless, compliant-first, global payment experience that leverages the superior capabilities of digital assets. MTLs allow Ripple Payments customers to access a licensed version of the cross-border payments solution in the US where transactions are managed end-to-end by Ripple on behalf of the customer.
For years, Ripple has been working diligently to secure global licenses. Ripple and its other subsidiaries collectively hold:
a NY BitLicense
NY Limited Purpose Trust Company Charter
55+ MTLs across Ripple's payments, custody and stablecoin business
a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore
a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration with the Central Bank of Ireland
a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority
Additionally, customers can access Ripple’s global payments network through a single integration where streamlined onboarding offers the agility and speed necessary to keep up with the rapidly evolving payments market. Last year saw banks lose a small but noteworthy share of the cross-border payments market to new players, indicating a trend that will likely drive banks to rethink strategies to stay competitive.
“We’re continuing to see more interest from financial institutions to crypto businesses that want to unlock the benefits of crypto and blockchain for faster, cost-efficient and 24/7 cross-border payments. With years of experience working in both crypto and with financial institutions, Ripple is well-positioned to support companies who are ready to take advantage of the current landscape,” said Joanie Xie, Managing Director of North America at Ripple.
Ripple Payments has served $70 billion in payments volume, with around-the-clock availability and global network coverage across 90+ markets representing more than 90% of the daily FX markets. Last year, Ripple’s payments business doubled and a number of new North American customers were added to the network including:
Bancoli
CambioReal
GeoSwift
AgilityFx
Cloud Payments
Atlantic Xchange
Zil Money
Demand for digital asset capabilities has grown alongside greater adoption of stablecoins for payments including Ripple USD (RLUSD)—an enterprise-grade, USD-denominated stablecoin created with trust, utility, and compliance at its core. RLUSD will be integrated into Ripple Payments later this year.
Digital asset regulation in the US is rapidly shifting. Just last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rescinded SAB 121 for crypto assets, which would have imposed prohibitive requirements on banks offering digital asset custody services. Congress had previously voted to overturn SAB 121 last year with bipartisan support.
A growing number of US policymakers and regulators are recognizing the importance of digital asset innovation, signaling a confidence in the realized and potential benefits at both the consumer and industry level.
As such, real-world digital asset use cases are moving to the foreground and institutions are taking action on their crypto strategies. The financial sector is trending increasingly digital as technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence envelop existing services and open doors to new use cases like real-world asset (RWA) tokenization which can afford greater utility, liquidity, and accessibility of financial instruments (e.g., stocks, bonds, ETFs).
Ripple is continuing to expand its US footprint by investing in domestic talent; ~75% of open positions are based in the US and domestic hiring has doubled compared to 2023. Just last year, Ripple opened new, larger offices in San Francisco and New York, signaling positive business momentum in the US.
The coming years will likely be monumental for the crypto industry, with many optimistic that political bodies and financial institutions alike will glean the benefits of blockchain through public-private collaboration, continued education, and tangible results driven by real-world applications of the technology.
Contact our Sales team today to learn more about Ripple Payments.
