Ripple Restarts Global Expansion: The Middle East Becomes a Strategic Layout Hub

While Ripple reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it quickly resumed its global expansion in the Middle East, with Dubai becoming a key focal point for its strategy on tokenizing real-world assets (RWA).

Recently, the XRP Ledger has been selected as the underlying network for the Dubai real estate blockchain tokenization project, showcasing Ripple and XRP's potential for development in government-enterprise cooperation, cross-border settlement, and stablecoin infrastructure, gradually transforming into the company's business breakthrough direction.

At the same time, a Nasdaq-listed energy company announced the completion of a $121 million private placement financing, which will transform into a strategy centered around XRP as its core crypto asset reserve. A Saudi prince led the investment with $100 million, demonstrating the recognition and bet of Middle Eastern capital on the XRP ecosystem.

XRP Ledger Becomes the Public Chain for Dubai Real Estate Tokenization Project

The Dubai Land Department has announced a collaboration with an asset tokenization platform to launch the Middle East's first government-led real estate tokenization project, PRYPCO. This project is jointly supported by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and the Dubai Future Foundation, aiming to achieve on-chain issuance of real estate assets on the XRP Ledger, with a minimum investment threshold of $545.

This project is an important part of Dubai's "Real Estate 2033 Strategy," aiming to achieve a real estate tokenization market of $16.3 billion by 2033. The partners have obtained the relevant licenses and stated that they have completed the tokenization of nearly $295 million in assets.

The XRP Ledger uses a consensus algorithm that does not require mining, enabling transaction settlements in seconds. The network is also actively promoting a stablecoin ecosystem, with multiple institutions announcing plans to launch fiat-backed stablecoins on the XRP Ledger.

Middle East Strategy Accelerates: Obtaining Licenses and Acquiring Brokerage Firms

Ripple has long attached importance to the Middle Eastern market. As early as 2020, the company established a regional headquarters at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Now, the Middle East accounts for about 20% of Ripple's global clients.

In March this year, Ripple obtained a regulatory license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, becoming the first compliant blockchain payment provider in the area. The company has also partnered with several local financial institutions to integrate its cross-border payment system into the financial services framework.

Ripple is still actively laying out its stablecoin business, with its RLUSD not only providing high yields on multiple DeFi platforms but also being integrated into the company's payment solutions.

In addition to payment services, Ripple is also intensifying its layout in the brokerage, custody, and tokenization fields. The company announced plans to acquire the major brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, aiming to expand the services it provides to institutional investors.

Will "Tokenization as a Service" Succeed?

Industry insiders believe that Ripple's acquisition moves are not just a singular expansion, but a forward-looking layout for the integration of DeFi and traditional finance. Ripple is attempting to build a technological layer for the tokenization of global financial assets through the XRP Ledger, providing financial institutions with "tokenization as a service" to achieve a fully integrated process from asset tokenization, collateral payments to settlement circulation.

At the same time, the approval of the XRP spot ETF is also progressing. If it can be successfully approved, Ripple may welcome another influx of funds and users.

Overall, after several years of regulatory challenges, Ripple is rapidly redeploying its global strategy by leveraging the Middle East, a regulatory-friendly frontier. The XRP Ledger, as the technological hub, is playing multiple roles ranging from payment infrastructure, stablecoin settlement to asset tokenization. If Ripple can successfully promote the "tokenization as a service" model, the Middle East may become an important testing ground for integrating DeFi with traditional finance and asset on-chain.