Ripple says greater than AED 1 billion (over $280 million) of licensed polished diamonds held within the United Arab Emirates have been tokenized on the XRP Ledger, in a deal that ties a high-value bodily stock to on-chain issuance, custody, and (ultimately) secondary-market rails.
The initiative, introduced Tuesday by Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt, is pitched as an end-to-end tokenization effort for licensed polished diamond stock within the Dubai market, one that’s designed to make provenance, grading, and possession historical past verifiable earlier than a transaction, whereas compressing settlement and operational workflows which have traditionally relied on offline certification and paper-heavy switch processes.
XRP Ledger Powers Dubai Tokenization Push
Based on the businesses’ press launch, Ctrl Alt has already tokenized greater than AED 1 billion in diamonds, with tokens minted on the XRP Ledger. The companions mentioned the community was chosen for “quick settlement, low charges, and scalable structure,” whereas the tokenized property are secured by Ripple’s “enterprise-grade custody know-how.”
Reece Merrick framed the transfer as a proof level that custody and auditability are central to institutional-grade commodity tokenization. “This initiative reveals how Ripple’s know-how can bridge the hole between bodily property and the digital financial system, utilising our enterprise-grade custody resolution to safe high-value diamond property with unrivalled belief and safety,” Merrick wrote on X.
He added that the companies have been “offering the infrastructure wanted to maneuver bodily commodities on-chain at scale,” calling it “a big leap ahead for the way forward for commodities tokenization.” Notably, the companies first introduced their partnership in July final yr.
Billiton, which the discharge describes as a frontrunner in tough diamond auctions utilizing a Vickrey public sale mannequin, mentioned the collaboration is meant to increase into tokenized polished diamond gross sales phases. The deliberate platform would embed real-time stock administration and certification knowledge on-chain, enabling verification of origin, grading, and possession historical past earlier than trades.
The companies additionally pointed to future “secondary market readiness” workstreams: custody, switch, and market participation, implying the tokens are being structured not simply as a digitized file, however as infrastructure for distribution.
The press launch mentioned the subsequent levels are topic to regulatory approval by Digital Belongings Regulatory Authority (VARA) previous to launch. That element issues: the companions are explicitly positioning the trouble as compliant market infrastructure, not a one-off proof of idea.
Jamal Akhtar argued the core unlock is liquidity and time-to-cash in a market the place diamonds have historically been operationally complicated to finance and switch.
“This partnership transforms polished diamonds from a historically illiquid asset class right into a clear, investable digital asset that helps producers, manufacturers, and traders alike,” Akhtar mentioned. “Tokenization introduces an unprecedented degree of transparency, unlocking the potential for brand spanking new liquidity, shortening working capital cycles for producers and merchants, and opening the door to seamless world participation in Dubai’s rising luxurious ecosystem.”
The announcement additionally credit DMCC with connecting stakeholders and serving to construct the ecosystem for diamond tokenization, with Ahmed Bin Sulayem describing DMCC as a “bridge between commodities, capital and next-generation digital markets,” and pointing to coordination with VARA as a part of the framework underpinning the rollout.
Ctrl Alt’s Robert Farquhar mentioned: “Billiton wanted strong, institutional-grade infrastructure to deal with the complexity and scale of its polished diamond provide. Our confirmed tokenization experience and know-how present a transparent, safe, and compliant route for diamond possession to maneuver on-chain, from asset origination to digital market participation. This establishes a extra accessible and operationally environment friendly mannequin for commodity funding within the UAE.”
At press time, XRP traded at $1.60.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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