Ripple-backed custody secures $280 million diamond tokenization push in UAE
Billiton Diamond and tokenization agency Ctrl Alt stated Tuesday they’d moved greater than $280 million price of licensed polished diamonds on-chain within the UAE, utilizing Ripple’s custody know-how to safe the belongings and the $XRP Ledger to mint tokens tied to bodily stock.
The initiative — framed as an institutional-grade tokenization pipeline for polished stones held within the UAE — has already tokenized over AED 1 billion ($280 million) in diamond stock, the corporations stated.
Whereas the businesses are positioning the challenge as a path to sooner settlement and clearer provenance information, the following part hinges on regulatory clearance: a broader platform launch and any transfer towards wider distribution can be topic to approval from Dubai’s Digital Property Regulatory Authority (VARA).
The businesses stated Ripple’s enterprise custody instruments will safe the tokenized stock, whereas the XRPL will deal with issuance and transfers. That places Ripple within the plumbing layer relatively than {the marketplace} layer — a distinction that issues, as a result of the tougher query in tokenized commodities isn’t minting tokens, it’s whether or not they can commerce meaningfully with tight spreads, dependable pricing and clear redemption mechanics.
The corporations additionally flagged an extended runway of “lifecycle” options — comparable to custody, transfers and secondary-market readiness — however didn’t share particulars on how redemptions would work, what minimal lot sizes may appear to be, or how pricing can be shaped for particular person stones, all key components for any market that desires to maneuver past a managed pilot.
Dubai’s DMCC stated it performed a coordinating function by connecting stakeholders and supporting the ecosystem round commodities tokenization, because the emirate pushes to make RWAs an actual enterprise line.
