Ripple’s Blockchain Infrastructure Gains Traction with High-Value Diamond Tokenization

Amid broader cryptocurrency market volatility, Ripple is securing tangible, real-world utility for its technology. A new initiative in the United Arab Emirates is leveraging the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to tokenize certified diamonds valued at over $280 million. This move underscores the company's strategic pivot to become a core infrastructure provider for institutional clients, a development unfolding even as its native XRP token trades deep in negative territory.

Ripple’s role in this venture is deliberately foundational. The company provides the underlying technological "pipes," while marketplace design and trading mechanisms are handled by partners. The project, a collaboration between Billiton Diamond, tokenization specialist Ctrl Alt, and supported by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), aims to modernize the trade of polished gemstones. By utilizing blockchain, it promises faster settlement times and transparent provenance tracking. Ripple’s "Custody" solutions secure the digital assets, with the XRPL handling the issuance and transfer of the tokens.

This operational success aligns with recent regulatory progress for Ripple. The company recently secured an E-Money Institution license in Luxembourg. Furthermore, in the United States, it received preliminary approval for a national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in December 2025.

Regulatory and Market Hurdles Define the Path Forward

Despite the project's launch, its broader market adoption hinges on regulatory clearance. The involved firms state that expansion requires explicit approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Several central operational questions also remain unresolved. Key details—such as the precise pricing mechanism for individual stones, the functionality of buy-back schemes, and applicable minimum lot sizes—are yet to be defined. These factors are critical for determining whether a liquid secondary market can develop beyond the pilot phase.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying XRP?

Supply Dynamics and Price Performance Diverge

Concurrent with these developments, Ripple continues its established schedule for releasing XRP from escrow. On February 2, one billion XRP was unlocked as scheduled. Of this amount, the company retained 300 million XRP for operational sales, thereby increasing the available supply on the open market.

This news of adoption and regulatory advancement stands in stark contrast to XRP’s current market performance. The token is trading at approximately $1.61, hovering just above its 52-week low of $1.59. It has shed over 15% of its value in the past week alone, contributing to a year-to-date decline of roughly 14%. Technical indicators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI), now at 28.8, suggest the asset is in oversold territory.

For investors, the central question persists: can institutional use cases like diamond tokenization eventually exert a sustained influence on XRP's market valuation, or will macroeconomic sentiment continue to dictate price action in the near term?