Ripple announced yet another expansion of its institutional digital asset strategy. In fact, the past seven days were rather packed with ecosystem updates.

All of it happened as XRP traded near $1.07 following a few unsuccessful recovery attempts, but more on that later. Now, let’s dive into the most important and recent Ripple news.

Ripple Invests in ZILO and Licuido

Undoubtedly the week’s largest ecosystem development was Ripple’s investment in ZILO and Licuido – two companies building infrastructure for digital investment funds and trading of institutional assets. Ripple did not disclose the size of either of those investments.

ZILO provides transfer agency and fund administration technology for tokenized share classes. It sounds fancy and tech, but the important part is that it fits well into Ripple’s plans to become the preferred international settlement layer for both retail and institutions. Conversely, Licuido operates a platform that supports the issuance, distribution, trading, and use of traditional assets as digital collateral. The important bit here is that it’s regulated in the United Kingdom.

Ripple plans to connect those services with its existing XRP Ledger infrastructure. The goal is to let institutions issue tokenized assets, transfer them between investors, hold them in custody, and use them as collateral. RLUSD could provide the settlement side of the transactions, allowing assets and payments to settle together and instantly.

Mastercard Completes Acquisition of Ripple Partner BVNK

Mastercard completed its acquisition of BVNK – a stablecoin infrastructure company that also supports XRP deposits and outgoing payments through its multichain infrastructure.

The company itself has worked with Ripple since 2024, even before RLUSD was officially launched. Both firms also participate in Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program and have contributed to its multi-token network initiative.

Mastercard mentioned that this deal would help connect traditional and digital forms of money.

FXRP Enters $280 Million RLUSD Lending Vault

Another important development is that Flare’s wrapped XRP (FXRP) received approval to be used as collateral in an RLUSD lending pool that’s managed by Sentora.

The vault, worth $280 million, operates through an isolated market on Morpho Blue. Users can deposit FXRP and borrow RLUSD, essentially without losing their exposure to XRP.

Around 155 million FXRP had been minted by the time of the announcement. There are some relative complications, though. Users have to mint FXRP on Flare, bridge to Ethereum, deposit on Morpho, and then borrow RLUSD.

XRP ETFs Stay Positive, but Demand Slows Down

XRP exchange-traded funds kept on attracting capital in July. However, the demand has weakened significantly.

These products recorded around $27 million in net inflows throughout the month. That was considerably less than the $60 million (approximately) registered in June, and a far cry from the $132 million in May.

However, the positive results are indicative of the fact that investors continue to add XRP exposure. On the other hand, the declining monthly totals suggest that institutional momentum might be cooling.

XRP Price Tests Long-Term Support

Last but not least, let’s look at the price action. XRP is currently found at around $1.07, after spending some time defending the area around $1.05 – $1.06. It remained below its 20-day exponential moving average near $1.08 and the 50-day average around $1.12.

That said, popular analyst ChartNerd described the current structure as a falling wedge that’s forming near a six-year support area. He argued that the next several months could prepare XRP for a broader repricing, although a temporary break below the critical $1 level could still take place.

On the other hand, a sustained move above $1.08 and $1.12 would improve the short-term picture and provide for a more reliable rally.

Source: CryptoPotato