Clearpool to Build XRP (XRP) Institutional Lending Platform After $950M Milestone

Clearpool, Ripple Launch XRPL Lending Push

Clearpool, the on-chain credit market protocol, will build an institutional lending platform on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) in partnership with Ripple and Cicada Partners, according to an August 20 announcement. The initiative assigns distinct roles: Clearpool constructs the infrastructure for creating and managing loan pools, Cicada Partners acts as fund general partner and credit pool manager overseeing borrower sourcing and risk monitoring, while Ripple participates as a limited partner with capital terms equal to other institutional investors. Clearpool revealed that cumulative loan originations have surpassed $950 million, and its announcement reinforced XRP (XRP) as the native asset for transaction fees and account reserves on the network. The company stated it is already testing the lending base on the XRPL development network. Loans and repayments will use Ripple's USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, with primary borrowers expected to include fintech firms, payment companies, and crypto service providers; Ripple will not act as a backstop for loan losses. The partnership depends on two pending XRPL amendments, the Single Asset Vault (XLS-65) and Lending Protocol (XLS-66), which remain in the voting phase and are not yet active on mainnet. Ripple already holds a recognized role in XRPL development, and Clearpool began accepting RLUSD in its X-Pool Return Strategy on April 21.

Volante Keeps FedNow, Ripple Rails Separate

A separate development clarifies that payment vendor Volante Technologies offers U.S. financial institutions a unified solution for the Federal Reserve's FedNow Service and The Clearing House's RTP real-time payments network, without linking that offering to Ripple. According to Volante's materials, its cloud-native cross-border payments platform processes SWIFT gpi, Ripple, Visa B2B, Mastercard Send, digital currencies, and alternative payments from a single platform. The company's FedNow announcement, however, describes a distinct unified offering for FedNow and TCH RTP, and it does not mention Ripple or XRP. The Federal Reserve's FedNow participants and service providers page also does not list XRP or Ripple, describing FedNow as instant-payments infrastructure available 24/7 for participating banks and credit unions. Volante said it joined the FedNow Pilot Program in early 2021 and is a prospective participant in the FedNow Service Provider Showcase, with its offering extensible to wire, ACH, and SWIFT. The distinction matters for traders, as a direct statement from FedNow connecting the service to XRP would be required to establish any shared settlement mechanism between the two networks.

XLS-65, XLS-66 Votes in Focus

Together, the Clearpool expansion and the Volante clarification underscore a key theme: XRP's institutional use case is growing through dedicated infrastructure while false amalgamations of separate payment rails persist. The $950 million originations figure from Clearpool's August 12 disclosure highlights real demand for on-chain credit, yet the actual deployment on XRPL is contingent on the XLS-65 and XLS-66 amendments passing their governance vote—the definitive primary-source condition to watch. The company's official announcement confirms the integration timeline is tied to those amendments, and until they are activated, the lending protocol's mainnet launch remains unconfirmed. For traders tracking XRP adoption, the pending votes represent the clearest near-term catalyst, as approval would likely accelerate institutional participation on the ledger. On-chain data shows the network's native asset remains central to transaction fees, reinforcing its utility beyond speculative trading.