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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the current bond settlement system is “slow and arcane,” arguing that it relies on fragmented infrastructure and multiple intermediaries that add cost and operational risk. Speaking on the program Crypto in America, he said the XRP Ledger is positioned to enable real-time execution for fixed-income markets.
Garlinghouse described conventional bond transfer processes as obsolete, noting that settlement can take between 24 and 48 hours. He attributed the delay to manual reconciliations and the need for several parties—such as custodians, clearinghouses, and settlement agents—each of which can increase costs and the likelihood of corporate errors.
Garlinghouse said the XRP Ledger offers a different settlement model: once a transaction is validated by the network, settlement occurs in seconds. He characterized the ledger as a single source of truth that can make ownership changes final and irreversible almost immediately, reducing the need for successive institutional confirmations.
Industry data cited in the article points to rapid growth in real-world assets (RWA) on the XRP Ledger. A report from RWA.xyz published in May 2026 said the value of RWAs on XRPL rose by 78% over the prior 30 days, bringing the total value above $3 billion in May 2026.
The article also referenced a cross-border pilot involving Ripple, JPMorgan, Ondo Finance, and Mastercard. In the trial, the group executed the redemption of U.S. Treasury bonds (OUSG) using the XRP Ledger as the asset layer. According to the pilot’s technical documentation, the redemption was completed in less than five seconds and operated even outside traditional banking hours.
In that process, JPMorgan’s Kinexys payment engine facilitated settlement in dollars, while Mastercard’s Multi-Token network handled payment instructions. The article said the flow illustrates how public infrastructure can interoperate with private banking rails to move institutional capital without the delays associated with the T+2 model.
The article said the U.S. regulatory environment is also moving toward modernization. It cited an SEC interpretation dated March 17, 2026, stating that securities represented on blockchains are subject to federal laws, while acknowledging that blockchain-based systems can support more efficient and transparent transactions.
Network data cited in the article indicated that, as of May 7, 2026, tokenized Treasury bonds on the network exceeded $418 million.
The article concluded that the next milestone for the ecosystem is expanding institutional liquidity corridors. It said that with advanced custody systems and regulatory clarity, more sovereign debt issuances could migrate to blockchain protocols before the close of the fiscal year.
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