Ripple Restructures Global Strategy: The Middle East Becomes a Key Focus

After reaching a settlement with U.S. regulators, Ripple is quickly restarting its global expansion in the Middle East, with Dubai becoming an important location for its layout of tokenized real-world assets (RWA).

Recently, the XRP Ledger has been selected as the underlying network for a blockchain tokenization project in Dubai's real estate sector, showcasing the development potential of Ripple and XRP in government-enterprise cooperation, cross-border settlement, and stablecoin infrastructure. At the same time, a Nasdaq-listed energy company announced the completion of a $121 million private placement financing, which will transform into a strategy centered on XRP as a core crypto asset reserve, attracting the favor of Middle Eastern capital.

XRP Ledger Becomes the Public Chain for Dubai's Real Estate Tokenization Project

The Dubai Land Department has partnered with the asset tokenization platform Ctrl Alt to launch the Middle East's first government-led real estate tokenization project, PRYPCO. The project plans to achieve on-chain issuance of real estate assets on the XRP Ledger through the PRYPCO Mint platform, with a minimum investment threshold of approximately $545.

This is an important component of Dubai's "Real Estate 2033 Strategy", aiming to achieve a tokenized real estate market of approximately $16.3 billion by 2033. Ctrl Alt has obtained the relevant licenses and stated that it has completed the tokenization of nearly $295 million in assets.

The XRP Ledger uses a consensus algorithm that does not require mining, allowing for transaction settlements in seconds. The network is also actively promoting a stablecoin ecosystem, including stablecoin projects pegged to the Euro and Brazilian Real, laying the groundwork for a multi-asset and multi-scenario tokenization foundation.

Ripple Accelerates Middle East Strategic Layout

Ripple established its regional headquarters in the Dubai International Financial Centre as early as 2020. Currently, the Middle East accounts for approximately 20% of Ripple's global customers. In March of this year, Ripple obtained regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, becoming the first compliant blockchain payment provider.

Ripple has also partnered with the UAE-based digital bank Zand Bank and fintech company Mamo to integrate its cross-border payment system into the financial services ecosystem. Zand Bank plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the AED to enhance local digital payment capabilities.

The stablecoin RLUSD is also enriching Ripple's business ecosystem. RLUSD not only offers high yields on multiple DeFi platforms but also collaborates with several exchanges and payment solutions to expand market coverage.

In addition to payment services, Ripple also plans to acquire the major brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, aiming to expand its services for institutional investors. After the acquisition is completed, Ripple will inject significant capital to meet the demands of Hidden Road's prime brokerage business.

Ripple's "Tokenization as a Service" Strategy

Ripple is attempting to build a technological layer for the tokenization of global financial assets through the XRP Ledger. Its vision is to provide "tokenization as a service" for financial institutions, achieving a fully integrated process from asset tokenization, collateral payments to settlement circulation.

According to predictions, by 2030, the digital asset custody market will exceed $16 trillion. Ripple is trying to seize this opportunity to rapidly deploy its global strategy in the Middle East, a region friendly to regulations.

At the same time, Ripple's regulatory environment in the United States has also improved. The company has reached a settlement agreement with the SEC and is advancing the approval of the XRP spot ETF.

Overall, Ripple is quickly redeploying its global strategy by leveraging the Middle East as a frontier. The XRP Ledger, as its technological core, is taking on multiple roles from payment infrastructure, stablecoin settlement to asset tokenization. If Ripple can successfully implement the "tokenization as a service" model, the Middle East may become an important testing ground for the integration of DeFi and traditional finance, as well as for asset on-chain.