BlackRock’s $2B BUIDL Fund Eyes XRP Ledger Expansion

The proposed expansion of BlackRock’s BUIDL fund onto the XRP Ledger represents a pivotal moment in the integration of traditional finance (TradFi) and blockchain infrastructure. The initiative is being driven by Ripple and Securitize, with the latter’s CEO Carlos Domingo declaring the partnership “a major step forward in automating liquidity for tokenized assets.” The core of this collaboration involves integrating RLUSD smart contracts into Securitize’s tokenization infrastructure, enabling investors to trade shares in tokenized funds like BUIDL for RLUSD on a 24/7 basis. This addresses critical limitations in traditional markets, where trading is confined to specific hours and settlement can be slow.

Ripple’s Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, Jack McDonalds, characterized the integration as a “natural step as we continue to bridge traditional finance and crypto.” The move is supported by the XRP Ledger’s demonstrated capacity for growth and scale. According to data from Dune Analytics, XRPL manages 5.6 million accounts and has processed over 4 billion transactions. More notably, the volume of weekly payments on the ledger surged by 430% between 2023 and 2025, providing a solid foundation for high-value institutional activity. This infrastructure makes XRPL an attractive venue for BlackRock’s foray into digital asset liquidity.

Despite a modest performance following its 2024 release, the RLUSD stablecoin has established itself as one of the fastest-growing digital dollars, achieving a market capitalization of $741 million. Its chart resilience and the high-profile integration with the BUIDL fund position it for significant future growth. The token’s utility is set to expand further through Ripple’s strategic partnerships. A key development is the collaboration with Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings to introduce RLUSD to the Japanese market in 2026, opening a major new avenue for adoption.

Ripple President Monica Long has further articulated the vision for RLUSD, highlighting recent partnerships with DBS Bank and Franklin Templeton. These collaborations are specifically designed to tackle two fundamental challenges in the tokenized asset space: utility and liquidity. By creating more use cases and ensuring assets can be easily traded, these partnerships aim to solidify RLUSD’s role in the emerging ecosystem of tokenized institutional assets. This concerted push by established financial players signals a growing acceptance of stablecoins as vital plumbing for the future of finance.

The deepening relationship between TradFi giants and blockchain technology is poised to contribute to an alternate global financial system characterized by greater decentralization, freedom, and flexibility for investors. This macro-trend is creating fertile ground for innovative projects that build on this new infrastructure. One such project is PEPENODE ($PEPENODE), which has garnered attention with a $1.4 million presale. The project aims to distinguish itself by offering on-chain utility through a unique blend of entertainment and innovation.

PEPENODE’s presale model redefines investor engagement by incorporating gamified crypto mining. Instead of a passive investment, participants buy nodes, upgrade them, and build personalized virtual mining facilities. A leaderboard tracks top performers, rewarding them with higher staking rewards and bonuses. Post-launch, the project plans to distribute real meme coin rewards based on mining performance. This approach allows users to learn about crypto mining mechanics without the prohibitive costs of physical hardware and electricity, using a visual dashboard to monitor progress, hashrate, and energy throughput.

The project’s proponents project significant growth for the $PEPENODE token, with predictions suggesting a rise to $0.0031 by the end of 2025 and $0.0095 by 2030 from its current presale price of $0.0010702, representing a potential 788% return on investment over five years. While such projections are speculative, they underscore the optimism surrounding projects that align with the broader movement of blending engaging user experiences with blockchain-based financial instruments. As the lines between TradFi and crypto continue to blur, the success of initiatives like BlackRock’s BUIDL expansion will likely influence the trajectory of the entire digital asset ecosystem.