Ripple pilots smart‑contract trade finance in Singapore
Ripple is testing the XRP Ledger and a stablecoin variant (RLUSD) inside Singapore’s MAS sandbox to automate cross‑border trade finance payments with smart contracts. The pilot aims to speed and secure payment flows for trade counterparties while embedding auto‑payment features into contracts. If successful, this could accelerate tokenised working capital use cases and force incumbent lenders to adapt payment rails and compliance checks. (x.com)
Singapore’s central bank launched the BLOOM initiative on October 16, 2025 to create a shared testing ground for tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins; founding participants named in the launch include Circle, Coinbase, DBS, OCBC, UOB, Stripe and Partior. (sgpc.gov.sg) (fintechnews.sg) On March 25, 2026 Ripple announced it would participate in a BLOOM pilot and named Unloq’s SC+ trade‑finance platform as the execution layer for the work. (ripple.com) Ripple’s enterprise stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), already has institutional custody arrangements in place with BNY Mellon announced on July 9, 2025, and Unloq has already executed at least one real financing using its SC+ platform in February 2026. (bny.com) (media-outreach.com) Unloq’s SC+ uses on‑chain programs that automatically hold and release funds when pre‑set commercial conditions are met; those programs — commonly called smart contracts — are self‑executing computer routines that remove manual signoffs by checking things like verified shipment documents before releasing payment. (ripple.com) (coindesk.com) The pilot ties those programs to settlements on the XRP Ledger, a distributed transaction ledger that records and finalises token transfers; in practice the flow is: a trade event is verified by Unloq’s platform, the smart contract confirms the condition, and RLUSD held on the ledger is released to the counterparty. (ripple.com) (coindesk.com) BLOOM’s stated technical goals include enabling settlement in tokenised bank liabilities — that is, digital representations of bank deposits that can move on a ledger — and building programmable compliance controls to automate checks like anti‑money‑laundering and customer identity verification. (sgpc.gov.sg) (fintechnews.sg) Coverage of the pilot highlights a concrete operational target: removing the typical 5–10 day “dead air” between delivery and payment in trade flows by automating release on verification; if the pilot can eliminate that gap, suppliers and financing lines could convert those days into available liquidity, reducing working capital strain and shortening time sellers wait for funds (this last point is an inference based on the pilot’s stated goal and existing trade finance timelines). (finance.yahoo.com) (ripple.com) (inference)
