Swell 2026, day one: Robinhood, BNY and C2FO around RLUSD and the XRP Ledger – what is live and what is only planned
Three partners, one final bank approval, one tokenised money-market fund. Which service is available today, which by \"year-end\", what is unconfirmed – and what applies in the EU. With sources, without prices.
On Tuesday 27 October 2026, Ripple's annual conference, Swell, opened at The Shed in Manhattan, New York. On the first day the company announced three partnerships around the RLUSD stablecoin and the XRP Ledger (XRPL): with Robinhood, BNY and C2FO. Based on a round-up published on KuCoin News, crypto.news and Bitcoin.com News, this article separates what is available now from what is only an announced plan. It says nothing about price.
| Fact sheet | |
|---|---|
| Event | Swell 2026, 27–29 Oct, The Shed, New York |
| Day before (26 Oct) | OCC final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank |
| Robinhood | RLUSD on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp by Robinhood (live) |
| BNY | XRP and RLUSD custody (live) |
| C2FO | Instant Pay on the XRPL with RLUSD settlement (testing, limited rollout) |
| RLUSD outstanding | about $2.57bn, nearly $1bn of it on the XRPL (DeFiLlama, per KuCoin) |
Sources: KuCoin News/NS3, 27 Oct, crypto.news, 27 Oct, Bitcoin.com News, 27 Oct.
Background: a final bank approval
According to crypto.news, on 26 October the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted final approval to Ripple National Trust Bank, following conditional approval in December 2025. Approved activities: managing segregated RLUSD reserves, acting as collateral trustee, and fiduciary custody of digital assets. RLUSD's issuer remains Standard Custody & Trust Company, and BNY is the primary reserve custodian.
A national trust bank is a US bank type that provides fiduciary and custody services but typically neither takes retail deposits nor makes loans.
The three announcements
Robinhood. According to the KuCoin round-up, Robinhood will distribute RLUSD across its retail and institutional businesses and use Ripple Treasury for liquidity management. Live: RLUSD on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp by Robinhood. Planned: RLUSD in the Robinhood app by year-end, and institutional settlement in RLUSD on the XRPL. According to crypto.news, the parties did not disclose a contract value.
BNY. According to the KuCoin round-up, BNY's digital asset custody platform already holds XRP and RLUSD. Planned: BNY clients minting and redeeming RLUSD directly through the bank, and broader support for tokenised assets issued on the XRPL.
C2FO. According to Bitcoin.com News, C2FO's Instant Pay lets suppliers receive payment on already approved invoices early in exchange for a discount; capital providers fund it and settlement happens in RLUSD on the XRPL. Ripple says settlement takes 3–5 seconds; C2FO says funds can reach the supplier's bank account within minutes. Launch: over the coming months, limited, with a waitlist, initially US-only.
What is unconfirmed
According to crypto.news, a social-media post claimed that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would also speak at Swell. Neither a Treasury announcement nor an official session listing confirmed this at the time of writing. The organiser's site lists more than 100 speakers, not the 150-plus figure circulating.
Concepts: minting, redemption, custody
- Minting: creating new stablecoins against a dollar deposit.
- Redemption: exchanging the stablecoin back for dollars; the token is retired.
- Custody: an institution safeguards a client's digital assets and is responsible for protecting access.
- Tokenised fund: a version of an investment fund's units recorded on a blockchain. According to crypto.news, on 26 October Aviva Investors launched a tokenised share class of a sterling liquidity fund on the XRPL, with a £50 million initial commitment.
MiCA: what applies in the EU
The announced services involve US parties and US launches. In the European Union, the MiCA regulation governs stablecoins and crypto-asset service providers; according to ESMA, authorised providers may not offer stablecoins that do not comply with it – see ESMA: non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins. A service announced in New York is therefore not available in the EU by default. This article did not examine RLUSD's EU status.
5 things many people don't know
- The trust bank is not the issuer. RLUSD is still issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company.
- The invoice due date doesn't change. In the C2FO model, invoice terms and due dates stay the same; only the supplier is paid earlier.
- The XRPL doesn't close at weekends. According to Bitcoin.com, settlement is independent of banking hours.
- The tokenised part is smaller than the fund. The Aviva fund's £22 billion size refers to the conventional portfolio, not the tokenised class.
- Most RLUSD is not on the XRPL. Of the $2.57 billion, nearly $1 billion is issued on the XRPL.
Summary
- OCC: final approval for Ripple's trust bank (26 Oct).
- Live: RLUSD on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp; XRP and RLUSD custody at BNY.
- Planned: RLUSD in the Robinhood app, minting at BNY, C2FO Instant Pay by year-end.
- Unconfirmed: Scott Bessent's appearance.
- EU: the announcement does not mean EU availability.
Related reading: RLUSD launch, 17 December 2024 · ESMA: non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins · Blog archive.
Educational content. Not investment advice. This article describes public announcements and press sources and says nothing about price. Data Analytic Investments is not affiliated with Ripple Labs, Robinhood, BNY, C2FO or the portals cited; names are used for identification only. Images labelled "AI illustration" are not photographs.
Continue on DAI
Explore Topics
Written by
Data Analytic Investments
Content creator and writer sharing insights and stories.
Related tools & research
This article is a companion piece to the book.
RIPPLE — the book
An Unofficial Documentary Study of Ripple and the XRP Ledger
22 chapters · every claim with a named source · numbered first edition · $29
