Do any of Ripple's CBDC pilots use XRP as a bridge between countries, or is that only Ripple's proposal, as of October 13, 2026?

The full answer

What did Ripple propose about XRP and central bank digital currencies?

Ripple set out the idea in a post by James Wallis dated September 25, 2020, titled “Interoperability Will Determine CBDC Winners and Losers” [1]. The post said neutral bridge assets would allow value to move between CBDCs without each one having to solve the liquidity problems of cross-border transactions [1]. It tied this to RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity service, which uses XRP, and said “such a solution can also support the direct exchange of CBDCs” [1].

Wallis returned to the theme on January 7, 2021, when Ripple released a report called The Future of CBDCs [2]. His post said universal interoperability between CBDCs “hinges on the use of open standards and neutral bridge assets” [2]. It repeated that RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity service, which uses XRP as a bridge currency, can also support the direct exchange of CBDCs [2]. The mechanics of that service are covered in how XRP works as a bridge between currencies and in how On-Demand Liquidity uses XRP.

What does Ripple’s CBDC Private Ledger say about XRP?

On March 4, 2021, Ripple said it was piloting a private version of the public, open-source XRP Ledger for central banks issuing digital currencies [3]. Ripple described this CBDC Private Ledger as based on the same blockchain technology that powers the XRP Ledger [3]. The post said the native asset XRP “can be leveraged as a neutral bridge asset for frictionless value movement between CBDCs and other currencies” [3].

Ripple said in the same post that it was engaged with central banks around the world to assess how the ledger could help them [3]. It also said it was working on a network of CBDC Ledgers that would give central banks full settlement interoperability, and that it would release more details on how that works “very soon” [3].

What did the Bhutan pilot announcement say about cross-border payments?

Ripple announced on September 22, 2021 a collaboration with Bhutan’s central bank, the Royal Monetary Authority, to pilot a CBDC on Ripple’s CBDC Private Ledger [4]. According to the release, the authority would pilot retail, cross-border and wholesale payment use cases for a digital Ngultrum in phases [4]. The release described the private ledger as based on the public, open-source XRP Ledger [4].

James Wallis, VP of Central Bank Engagements at Ripple, said in the release that Ripple’s solution offers the interoperability needed to implement global cross-border CBDC payments [4]. For settlement between countries, the release pointed to a network of CBDC Ledgers that central banks will be able to access [4]. The wider story of that pilot is on the page about what Ripple is doing with Bhutan’s central bank.

What is the strongest case against reading the pilots as XRP use?

Ripple’s own posts set the limits. The March 4, 2021 post said a central bank needs more privacy and control than a public ledger offers, and “will most likely opt to create a CBDC on a private ledger” [3]. XRP’s bridge role in that post is something the asset “can” do, not something a central bank had done [3]. The September 25, 2020 post went further and said Ripple does not believe there will be “one digital asset to rule them all” [1].

The Bhutan release, the one named central bank pilot, describes cross-border use cases and a network of CBDC Ledgers, and its only mention of XRP is the XRP Ledger as base technology [4]. Whether any standards body has backed XRP for this role is a separate question, taken up in whether the Bank for International Settlements has endorsed XRP or the XRP Ledger. Price drivers outside CBDC news, such as the scheduled US inflation and jobs reports that crypto commentators cite, are covered separately.

What is still not known about XRP in CBDC pilots?

As of October 13, 2026, neither Ripple nor the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan has publicly reported a digital Ngultrum payment to another country that settled through XRP. Ripple’s March 4, 2021 post promised details on its network of CBDC Ledgers [3], and its March and September 2021 statements do not say whether that network would carry XRP [3][4].