Ripple Recruits the Ancient Bank of New York Mellon for RLUSD Custody – Shocking! 😲

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Well, well, well! If it isn’t the Bank of New York Mellon, the granddaddy of all US banks, once again making waves in the world of cryptocurrency. In what can only be described as a delightful surprise, this venerable institution has decided to partner with Ripple, the not-so-shy digital currency mogul, to take custody of RLUSD, a stablecoin that’s as fresh as last year’s leftovers. 🍞

According to their press release (as if that’s going to make us feel fancy), BNY Mellon, in all its glory, will be the custodian of this ‘revolutionary’ coin. No, it’s not your average blockchain wonder; this one comes with a hefty promise to “bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto” — a noble goal indeed. But let’s not kid ourselves, we all know this is just another clever excuse to keep up with the cool kids in the crypto world. 😏

It was just last year when the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), possibly after a long lunch break and a generous round of applause, decided that RLUSD should be given the green light. Since then, this stablecoin has become one of the few global coins to be backed by NYDFS’s Trust Company Charter, a certificate of approval for all the crypto aficionados out there. 🏆

Now, here’s the twist: RLUSD is pegged to the US dollar at a neat 1:1 ratio, and in case you were wondering, it’s backed by “high-quality liquid assets” – whatever that means. The real kicker, however, is that RLUSD isn’t meant for retail folks like you and me. No, no, this is “purpose-built” for enterprises – the big wigs who are just *dying* to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more efficient. Because who doesn’t want to see companies exchange money with all the elegance of a well-executed chess match? ♟️

“As primary custodian for RLUSD, we’re proud to support the growth of digital assets by providing a differentiated platform, designed to meet the evolving needs of institutions in the digital assets ecosystem,” said Emily Portney, Global Head of Asset Servicing at BNY. A grand statement, indeed, Emily. But let’s be honest, it sounds like corporate mumbo-jumbo sprinkled with a little ‘We Are Here to Save the Day’ charm.

And that’s not all, dear reader. Ripple, being the forward-thinking entity that it is, will also be using BNY’s transaction banking services to, and I quote, “continue delivering seamless solutions for its customers.” Let’s just hope that the word ‘seamless’ doesn’t mean ‘utterly invisible.’ 🧩

BNY, in all its wisdom, has been dabbling in cryptocurrency for years, long before it became the fashionable thing to do. As a true pioneer, they started offering BTC and other crypto-related products during the early days of COVID — a time when most of us were trying to figure out how to keep sourdough alive. But here they are, proudly offering custody to digital asset firms like Grayscale, as if to say, “We were cool before it was cool.”

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2025-07-09 14:48