Ripple Partners with Singapore's Central Bank on Cross-Border Settlement Infra for Trade Finance

Ripple has joined a pilot program run by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), partnering with trade finance platform Unloq to build blockchain-based cross-border settlement infrastructure, according to a press release today, March 25. The pilot will leverage Unloq's trade finance platform, which bundles trade obligations, settlement conditions, and financing workflows into a single execution layer, alongside Ripple's XRP Ledger and its enterprise-focused stablecoin, RLUSD. The pilot is part of BLOOM — short for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency — a MAS initiative to extend settlement capabilities using tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins. MAS is both Singapore's central bank and primary financial regulator.The use case targets a persistent inefficiency in global trade: payments that must be released only when predefined commercial conditions — like shipment verification — are confirmed, according to the release. Ripple says the structure improves risk transparency and could open up financing access for small and medium sized businesses caught in cross-border settlement limbo.To continue reading this as well as other DeFi and Web3 news, visit us at thedefiant.io