Aviva Investors has launched a tokenized share class of its Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger, the Ripple-backed blockchain. The fund is valued at $29 billion, making it one of the largest pools of assets to be represented on a public ledger by a traditional asset manager.
The move puts a money market fund — a staple of corporate cash management — directly onto a blockchain, where transfers can settle in seconds rather than days. It's a notable step for tokenization, which until now has mostly involved smaller funds and pilot programs.
What the tokenized share class actually is
The new share class mirrors the existing Sterling Liquidity Fund, which invests in short-term, high-quality debt instruments. Investors who buy the tokenized version get exposure to the same underlying portfolio, but the shares are recorded on the XRP Ledger instead of a traditional register. That means transfers can happen around the clock, and settlement doesn't have to wait for banking hours.
Aviva hasn't disclosed the size of the initial tokenized tranche, nor the fees attached to it. The $29 billion figure refers to the whole fund, not the portion that's been tokenized. Still, the launch signals that a major European asset manager is willing to use a public blockchain for a core cash product — not just a sandbox experiment.
Why the XRP Ledger
The XRP Ledger is an open-source blockchain that's been running since 2012 and is closely associated with Ripple, the payments company. It's designed for fast, low-cost transactions and has a built-in decentralized exchange. For a liquidity fund, those features matter: investors need to move cash in and out quickly, and they need the ledger to handle settlement without congestion.
Aviva's choice of the XRP Ledger rather than a private, permissioned chain is a bet that public infrastructure can meet the operational and compliance standards of a regulated fund. The ledger's consensus mechanism doesn't rely on mining, which keeps energy use low — a detail that's often raised by institutional adopters.
The tokenization push among asset managers
Tokenized money market funds have become a testing ground for blockchain in traditional finance. BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and others have launched similar products, mostly on Ethereum or private networks. Aviva's move stands out because it's a European fund manager putting a sterling-denominated liquidity vehicle on a ledger tied to Ripple.
The appeal for investors is operational: collateral can be posted and moved without the friction of traditional fund transfer agents. For asset managers, tokenized share classes can open up new distribution channels and make funds accessible to crypto-native investors who hold stablecoins or other digital assets.
Aviva hasn't said whether it plans to tokenize other funds, or whether the XRP Ledger version will be available to retail investors or only institutions. Those details will likely emerge as the product rolls out.
What happens next
The tokenized share class is live, but the operational details — minimum investment sizes, eligible jurisdictions, and the exact process for subscribing and redeeming — haven't been made public. Aviva Investors hasn't set a date for when the first transactions will settle on the ledger.
For now, the launch adds a $29 billion name to the list of funds using public blockchains. Whether other large managers follow with their own sterling products is the next thing to watch.
