XRP News: Ripple joins Clearpool and Cicada for XRPL lending

Ripple has partnered with Clearpool and Cicada Partners to bring institutional lending to the XRP Ledger, using native blockchain infrastructure rather than third-party smart contracts to connect real-world borrowers with onchain capital.

Three Firms, Three Roles

The structure splits responsibilities across the three companies. Clearpool is building the credit infrastructure layer on XRPL, drawing on the XRP Ledger’s native Lending Protocol and Single Asset Vault features. The company states it has facilitated more than $930 million in institutional loans since 2021, though this figure comes from Clearpool itself and has not been independently verified.

Cicada Partners is handling credit origination and servicing, acting as both fund manager and underwriter. The firm says it has underwritten more than $860 million to date, a figure also sourced from the company’s own disclosure. Cicada’s role includes sourcing borrowers, setting loan terms, and monitoring their financial health.

Ripple is participating as a limited partner in the credit fund, investing capital on equal terms with other institutional co-investors rather than acting as a guarantor or backstop.

How the Lending Works

Loans are denominated in RLUSD, Ripple’s stablecoin, which is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services and custodied by BNY. Borrowers are described as fintech and payment companies using the funds for working capital needs. XRP is used to settle the underlying lending transactions, including fees and reserves.

The companies frame this as a departure from typical decentralized finance yield sources, which they say are often generated through internal trading mechanics rather than external lending activity. That framing reflects the companies’ own characterization of the market and has not been independently assessed.

Still in Development

The Lending Protocol and Single Asset Vault features are currently going through XRPL’s community governance process and have not yet launched on the network’s mainnet. Clearpool says it is testing the integration on a developer network, with a technical demonstration expected to follow.