Ripple pilots rlusd stablecoin in MAS BLOOM to automate cross-border settlements

Singapore’s latest experiment with digital assets puts the rlusd stablecoin at the center of a new push to modernize cross-border trade settlements.

Ripple joins MAS BLOOM to pilot RLUSD in trade finance

Ripple has joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s BLOOM initiative as of March 25, 2026, partnering with supply chain platform Unloq to pilot its RLUSD stablecoin for cross-border settlement.

The company will test automated trade payments using the XRP Ledger, targeting structural trade finance inefficiencies that slow down international transactions for small and medium enterprises reliant on traditional banking rails.

BLOOM, which stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, is MAS’s framework for experimenting with tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins in real-world settlement use cases.

Moreover, Ripple’s participation places the firm at the center of Singapore’s ongoing effort to build programmable settlement infrastructure that can support global commerce.

How Ripple and Unloq automate cross-border settlement flows

Unloq contributes its SC+ platform to the partnership, bundling trade obligations and financing workflows into a single execution layer that can be automated end to end.

Payments are released only when predefined commercial conditions are satisfied, with shipment verification acting as a key trigger in the system’s design.

However, those conditions are enforced not by intermediaries but by smart contracts operating directly on the XRP Ledger, which execute conditional payments once documentation and milestones are confirmed.

The SC+ solution uses these smart contracts to settle transactions without manual intervention after shipment is verified, removing delays typically associated with legacy banking procedures in international trade.

Singapore’s regulatory clarity underpins the BLOOM sandbox

Fiona Murray, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Ripple, highlighted Singapore’s strategic role in enabling this type of experimentation with regulated stablecoins and tokenized settlement rails.

She stated that Singapore “continues to take a leading role globally in providing the regulatory clarity necessary for the digital asset space to thrive,” underscoring the importance of MAS’s policy approach.

Murray added that Ripple is “incredibly excited to be part of BLOOM,” calling the initiative perfectly aligned with the company’s focus on compliant, real-world blockchain utility in payments and trade finance.

That said, the collaboration also illustrates how regulatory sandboxes can bridge traditional finance and emerging blockchain-based infrastructure without disrupting existing commercial relationships.

RLUSD stablecoin pilot brings programmability to cross-border trade

The RLUSD stablecoin is Ripple’s enterprise-focused digital asset, which has now surpassed $1 billion in market capitalization as the firm deepens its presence in Singapore’s financial hub.

Within the BLOOM pilot, RLUSD is used to trigger automatic payments once trade milestones are validated, effectively serving as programmable settlement liquidity for multi-party supply chain transactions.

In this rlusd stablecoin pilot, the smart contract logic replaces manual banking steps that typically slow cross-border transfers, allowing payments to clear as soon as obligations and shipments are verified on-chain.

Letitia Chau, President and Chief Risk Officer of Unloq, said “BLOOM represents an important step toward modernising trade finance infrastructure in a controlled and regulated environment,” emphasizing the importance of guardrails.

Moreover, Chau noted that the SC+ configuration shows how digital settlement rails can integrate with existing workflows, a feature that can reassure corporates wary of operational disruption.

Singapore’s licensing regime and Ripple’s regulated footprint

Ripple already holds a payments license in Singapore, giving the company a regulated foundation for experimenting inside MAS’s sandbox environment with tokenized settlement technologies.

The country has positioned itself as a leading crypto hub, drawing blockchain and fintech firms through clear, consistent frameworks that govern stablecoins, digital assets and payment service providers.

This BLOOM pilot builds on the established relationship between Ripple and Singapore’s financial authorities, reinforcing the city-state’s ambition to act as a testing ground for programmable money in trade finance.

However, MAS is not acting in isolation; the initiative aligns with a broader movement among central banks and regulators exploring tokenized liabilities for wholesale and trade-related applications.

Broader implications for programmable money and trade finance

The BLOOM initiative reflects a global trend in which central banks and regulators test programmable settlement mechanisms before making long-term infrastructure decisions.

By trialing tangible use cases in a controlled pilot, MAS gathers operational and policy data on how regulated stablecoins can function within complex, cross-border trade workflows.

Ripple and Unloq’s collaboration offers one model for how regulated digital assets might modernize global commerce, blending on-chain programmability with compliance and institutional-grade settlement standards.

In summary, the BLOOM pilot with RLUSD, the SC+ platform and the XRP Ledger positions Singapore as a live laboratory for next-generation, programmable trade finance.