Ripple’s Game-Changing Move: Powers Revolutionary Offramp for BlackRock and VanEck Tokenized Funds

Wall Street's traditional finance fortress just got a digital battering ram.

Ripple's infrastructure now handles exit strategies for two of asset management's heaviest hitters—BlackRock and VanEck—bringing institutional tokenization into its next phase.

Breaking the Legacy Chains

The move bypasses traditional settlement systems that have plagued institutional crypto adoption for years. No more waiting days for transfers that should take seconds.

Why This Changes Everything

When BlackRock sneezes, traditional finance catches cold. Their embrace of Ripple's technology signals a fundamental shift in how major players view blockchain infrastructure—not as speculative toys, but as essential plumbing.

VanEck's parallel adoption confirms this isn't a one-off experiment but an industry-wide pivot.

The Cynic's Corner

Of course, watching traditional finance giants 'discover' technology that's been running perfectly well without them for years does bring a certain irony—like watching your grandfather finally figure out how to use a smartphone after insisting for a decade that landlines were superior.

The gates are open. The money's moving. And the old guard is finally learning that sometimes, disruption doesn't ask for permission.

BlackRock And VanEck Turn To Ripple’s RLUSD

In a press release dated September 23, Ripple and Securitize said a new smart-contract flow “would allow holders of BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL to exchange their shares … for Ripple USD (RLUSD),” describing the mechanism as “an additional stablecoin off ramp for BUIDL and VBILL tokenized short term treasury funds.” The companies emphasized continuous availability—“24/7”—and framed the upgrade as programmable liquidity for compliant, on-chain investment products. Securitize also confirmed it is integrating with the XRP Ledger “to expand access and bring new utility to the XRPL ecosystem.”

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s SVP of Stablecoins, positioned the MOVE as a bridge between tokenized funds and transactional money: “RLUSD is for institutional use, offering regulatory clarity, stability, and real utility. As adoption grows, partnerships with trusted platforms like Securitize are key to unlocking new liquidity and enterprise-grade use cases.” On X, McDonald distilled the news for market participants: “RLUSD is now a key stablecoin offramp for BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL tokenized fund holders. The integration is starting with ETH, though Securitize is planning to integrate with the XRP Ledger.”

Ripple President Monica Long linked the Securitize integration to a broader RLUSD tokenization push announced the prior week with DBS and Franklin Templeton, where RLUSD serves as a “liquid, stable and compliant exchange mechanism for tokenized assets in lending and trading use cases.” “This week, Securitize added RLUSD as a new offramp for BlackRock and VanEck’s tokenized funds,” she noted.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse underscored the 24/7 redemption promise and the XRPL roadmap: “Very excited to share that BlackRock’s BUIDL and @VanEck_US’s VBILL tokenized fund holders can redeem shares for RLUSD/ETH 24/7 365 through Securitize, and soon to come RLUSD/XRPL. Enterprise-grade instant onchain liquidity at your fingertips. That’s real utility.”

The companies framed the design as explicitly regulatory-first. Ripple said RLUSD is issued under a New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) trust charter, with “1:1 USD backing by high-quality liquid assets, strict reserve management and asset segregation, third-party attestations and clear redemption rights.” Ripple added that since launch in late 2024, RLUSD has integrated into DeFi and cross-border payment flows and surpassed $700 million in market capitalization.

For tokenized funds, the off-ramp matters because it stitches together yield-bearing on-chain treasuries with settlement-grade stablecoin liquidity. BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL are tokenized short-term US Treasury strategies issued through Securitize on public blockchains; the new workflow lets qualified holders convert fund shares into RLUSD without banking hours friction, potentially improving collateral mobility for trading, lending, repo and treasury operations.

Ripple Puts New Focus On Tokenization

The development also follows Ripple’s tie-up with DBS and Franklin Templeton, which is listing Franklin’s sgBENJI token on the DBS Digital Exchange alongside RLUSD to enable swapping between the tokenized fund and the stablecoin, and to explore using tokenized fund units as repo collateral—an example of how banks envisage tokenization rails meeting institutional liquidity needs.

While the initial redemption path is live on ethereum via Securitize, both firms signaled that XRPL integration is next, aligning with Ripple’s push to make RLUSD natively useful across multiple venues. If executed, XRPL support would extend the same institutional redemption mechanics to a different settlement environment—one that Ripple and parts of the treasury-tokenization market already touch via custody, payments, and prior Franklin Templeton XRPL issuance plans.

Notably, BlackRock will be represented at Ripple Swell 2025 in New York on November 4–5 at Convene Hudson Yards. Maxwell Stein, BlackRock’s Director of Digital Assets, is slated to speak in a session titled “The Impact of Tokenized Financial Assets on Capital Markets,” alongside Rory Callagy of Moody’s.

At press time, XRP traded at $2.88.