Aviva Investors, the UK-based asset manager, has launched its first tokenized fund — a USD liquidity fund built on the XRP Ledger. The move comes months after the firm struck a partnership with Ripple earlier this year to push tokenization forward on the XRPL blockchain.
Why the XRP Ledger
Ripple's XRP Ledger is the chosen platform for this debut tokenized product. The fund is a tokenized USD liquidity fund, meaning investors get digital tokens representing shares in a pool of short-term dollar-denominated assets. Aviva Investors and Ripple announced their collaboration earlier in 2025, with the goal of bringing real-world assets onto the XRPL. This launch is the first concrete result of that partnership.
The XRP Ledger is known for its speed and low transaction costs. By using it, Aviva Investors can offer near-instant settlement and 24/7 trading — a clear break from traditional fund structures that rely on batch processing and market hours.
What the Tokenized Fund Offers
The fund itself is a liquidity vehicle, designed for institutional investors who need quick access to cash-like returns. Tokenization lets Aviva Investors issue and redeem shares on-chain, cutting out middlemen and reducing operational friction. Investors get a digital token that can be transferred or used as collateral in other DeFi or traditional finance applications.
Aviva Investors hasn't disclosed the fund's size or the exact assets it holds. But the structure mirrors other tokenized money-market funds that have popped up in recent years — BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's BENJI are two examples. The difference here is the blockchain: XRPL instead of Ethereum or Stellar.
Aviva's Digital Asset Bet
This isn't Aviva Investors' first brush with crypto. The firm has been exploring blockchain for years, but this is its first live tokenized fund. The partnership with Ripple gives it access to a proven ledger and a network of institutional partners. Ripple, for its part, has been pushing hard to bring traditional finance onto the XRPL, signing deals with banks and asset managers globally.
The launch signals that large asset managers are moving beyond pilot projects. Tokenization of real-world assets — bonds, funds, private credit — is becoming a real business. Aviva Investors is betting that clients will want the efficiency and programmability that on-chain funds provide.
Still, questions remain about regulation and investor protection. Tokenized funds fall under existing securities laws in most jurisdictions, but the technology adds new wrinkles — custody of digital assets, smart contract risk, and the need for reliable oracles. Aviva Investors and Ripple have not detailed how they address these issues, though both firms have compliance teams focused on the space.
The fund is available now to eligible investors. Aviva Investors hasn't said whether it plans to launch more tokenized products, but the partnership with Ripple suggests this is just the start. The next question is whether other UK asset managers will follow suit — and whether regulators will keep pace with the technology.
