Ripple and C2FO to Implement RLUSD for Supplier Payments: Why XRP is Needed

Ripple and C2FO are developing an early supplier financing mechanism using the XRP Ledger and Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin. The initiative aims to expedite settlements on approved invoices within the C2FO Instant Pay service.

The collaboration was announced on October 27, 2026, at the Ripple Swell event in New York. According to the plan, suppliers will be able to receive financing before the set payment date, with funds transferred via blockchain. The primary settlement currency will be RLUSD, a Ripple stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. The native cryptocurrency XRP will be used to facilitate network operations.

How Supplier Financing Will Work

In the traditional trade financing model, companies often wait 30, 60, or 90 days for payment for delivered goods and services. Even after agreeing on early payment, transferring funds through banking infrastructure can take several days.

C2FO Instant Pay aims to reduce this gap by settling in RLUSD through the XRP Ledger. The mechanism involves the buyer approving the invoice, after which the supplier can agree to receive funds early under certain conditions. Participating capital providers offer the financing, and blockchain is used for settlements.

For example, if a company expects $100,000 in 30 days, it might agree to receive $99,500 immediately. The $500 difference in this hypothetical example represents the cost of early financing, not a blockchain fee. The original invoice terms and agreed payment date remain unchanged.

According to Ripple, confirmation of a transaction on the XRP Ledger takes about 3–5 seconds. However, receiving funds into a bank account may require additional time due to RLUSD conversion and payment processing by financial intermediaries. C2FO aims to provide access to funds within minutes after early payment confirmation.

The company is currently preparing a limited rollout of Instant Pay in the US and is accepting applications from interested clients. The exact date for a broader launch has not been announced.

The Role of XRP in Settlements via RLUSD

Despite using RLUSD as the settlement asset, XRP is necessary for the XRP Ledger to function. According to network rules, transaction fees are paid in XRP. Accounts must also maintain a certain reserve of the native cryptocurrency. The minimum fee for a standard operation is 0.00001 XRP, though it may increase with network load or for specific transaction types.

The base reserve for an account is 1 XRP. Additional requirements depend on the number of objects the account creates and stores on the blockchain. Thus, expanding settlements in RLUSD could increase XRP usage at the infrastructure level, but the scale of additional token demand will depend on the service's technical organization. If the operator handles many payments through a limited number of accounts, the reserve requirement may be significantly lower than if a separate wallet is opened for each supplier.

Moreover, the network fee size is determined by the nature of the operation, not directly by the invoice amount. For example, 100,000 standard transactions at the minimum fee would require a total of 1 XRP. Therefore, even a multi-million dollar volume of RLUSD payments does not necessarily lead to a comparable increase in XRP purchases.

Currency conversion via XRP could be a separate source of demand, but the companies have not yet stated that this mechanism will be a mandatory part of settlements. Ripple is also expanding its collaboration with BNY in storing XRP and RLUSD and exploring trade finance tokenization opportunities with C2FO. These areas complement the payment infrastructure but do not confirm the actual mass supplier payments through the new service.

To assess the initiative's results, data on the number of paid invoices, transaction volume in RLUSD, speed of funds receipt by suppliers, and XRP used for fees and reserves are important.

As of November 6, 2026, such metrics for Instant Pay have not been disclosed. Therefore, the impact of Ripple and C2FO's collaboration on real demand and the market value of XRP remains uncertain.