Which central banks and governments have announced CBDC or digital-currency pilots with Ripple, and do they run on the public XRP Ledger, as of October 13, 2026?

The full answer

Which central banks and governments has Ripple named as pilot partners?

Ripple’s releases on central bank and government pilots cover Bhutan, Georgia and Palau, and the ledger those pilots use. Bhutan’s central bank, the Royal Monetary Authority, came first, in a Ripple release dated September 22, 2021 [1]. Palau followed. A Ripple post dated July 26, 2023 said its stablecoin project with the Republic of Palau had entered a Phase One pilot [2]. On November 2, 2023, Ripple said the National Bank of Georgia had chosen it as official technology partner for the Digital Lari pilot project [3].

The Georgia release also gave a count. Ripple said it had announced five pilot programs with governments and central banks in Bhutan, Palau, Montenegro, Colombia and Hong Kong, and was in discussions with over 20 countries [3]. Georgia is not one of the five; it came on top of them. Montenegro gets a short mention in a Ripple post of May 18, 2023, which said the Central Bank of Montenegro had recently chosen to work with Ripple on developing a CBDC [4]. In a December 13, 2023 post, Ripple said a central bank on its CBDC Platform creates its own private version of the XRP Ledger and governs it [5].

What did Ripple announce with Bhutan’s central bank?

Ripple announced on September 22, 2021 a collaboration with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) to pilot a central bank digital currency using Ripple’s CBDC Private Ledger [1]. The RMA would pilot retail, cross-border and wholesale payment use cases for a digital ngultrum in phases, Ripple said [1]. The same release described the CBDC Private Ledger as based on the public, open-source XRP Ledger [1]. The wider story of that partnership is on the page about what Ripple is doing with Bhutan’s central bank.

What did the Palau stablecoin pilot involve?

Ripple’s July 26, 2023 post says the Palau Stablecoin (PSC), backed by the US dollar, was issued on the XRP Ledger [2]. Government employees who volunteered used PSC with select local merchants. Ripple named three of them: Surrangel and Sons, The Penthouse Hotel and King’s Minute Mart [2]. For the pilot, Palau would use the Ripple CBDC Platform, the post said [2].

Jay Hunter Anson, FinTech Project Manager for the Palau Ministry of Finance, is quoted in the post [2]. Anson said the pilot would be evaluated after two months, with a decision on whether to expand it [2]. Ripple wrote that additional phases were planned [2].

What did the National Bank of Georgia choose Ripple for?

Ripple said on November 2, 2023 that the partnership would see the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) and Ripple jointly plan the execution and delivery of the pilot using the Ripple CBDC Platform [3]. NBG announced the result after a competitive selection process, according to Ripple [3]. Nine shortlisted companies took part in that process, Ripple said, and its release quotes NBG’s Acting Governor, Natia Turnava [3]. With selection complete, Ripple wrote, NBG would move to the pilot stage to test the platform in a live environment [3].

Do these pilots run on the public XRP Ledger?

Ripple’s own descriptions point to private ledgers built from XRP Ledger technology. A Ripple post of March 4, 2021 said the company was piloting a private version of the public, open-source XRP Ledger for central banks issuing digital currencies [6]. Its platform release of May 18, 2023 went further: while still powered by the XRP Ledger, the Ripple CBDC Platform is built on a new private ledger underpinned by the XRPL’s core technology [7]. That release listed wholesale and retail CBDCs on a private ledger, or issuing a stablecoin, among the uses [7]. In December 2023, Ripple said a central bank creates its own private version of the ledger, which it governs, and can run the validation network itself [5].

The Georgia release uses looser wording. It says the technology is powered by the XRP Ledger, an open-source blockchain [3]. Palau sits between the two descriptions: Ripple’s post says the stablecoin was issued on the XRP Ledger, and the same post says Palau would use the Ripple CBDC Platform [2].

What evidence weighs against reading these pilots as public-ledger adoption?

The strongest caution is the source itself. Every pilot detail above comes from Ripple, and the only central bank voice in Georgia’s case reaches readers through a quote in Ripple’s release [3]. Ripple’s own technical wording, a private ledger governed by the central bank, also cuts against claims that central banks are running currencies on the public XRP Ledger [5][7].

Other central banks have tested digital money on ledgers they run themselves. SG Forge, part of Societe Generale, said on December 13, 2024 that it deposited bonds issued on public Ethereum with the Banque de France in exchange for CBDC issued on the Banque de France’s own DL3S blockchain [8]. Readers weighing claims of official backing for XRP can compare the page on whether the Bank for International Settlements has endorsed XRP or the XRP Ledger. The broader split between what is running and what is pending is set out in which parts of the XRP institutional stack are live today, and the counter-case on supply is in how the original 100 billion XRP was distributed and what the founders sold.