Aviva Brings $29B Sterling Liquidity Fund On-Chain via XRP Ledger
TREE NEWS reports: Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of UK insurer Aviva, has partnered with Ripple to launch a tokenized share class of its £22 billion ($29.4 billion) Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger. The firm committed £50 million ($66.7 million) to the new share class. Combined with a tokenized dollar liquidity fund share class introduced in July, Aviva now has over £86 million ($114.8 million) deployed across its two tokenized money market fund products.
The Sterling Liquidity Fund, launched in 2002, invests in high-rated sterling-denominated short-term debt instruments and offers daily liquidity. It is domiciled in Ireland and structured as a UCITS money market fund. Under a “digital twin” model, investors’ holdings are represented on-chain while the fund itself continues to operate off-chain. Investors must use an eligible digital wallet to access the new share class. BNY Mellon holds the fund’s assets, with digital asset custodian Komainu and digital infrastructure platform Licuido supporting the launch.
Why It Matters: TradFi’s Tokenization Push Accelerates
Aviva’s move is the latest sign that major traditional asset managers are embracing blockchain rails for money market funds—a segment increasingly seen as the gateway for institutional tokenization. The digital twin approach allows firms to test on-chain distribution and settlement without overhauling their existing fund infrastructure, reducing operational and regulatory friction.
- Institutional validation: A £22 billion fund moving a slice on-chain signals growing comfort with public blockchain infrastructure, even as firms remain cautious about full on-chain operations.
- XRP Ledger’s enterprise pitch: Ripple’s ledger gains a high-profile European asset manager, bolstering its case as a settlement layer for tokenized real-world assets beyond cross-border payments.
- Custody ecosystem maturing: The involvement of BNY Mellon, Komainu, and Licuido highlights a developing support stack—traditional custody, digital asset custody, and infrastructure—needed for compliant tokenized funds.
Forward Look
The tokenized money market fund space is heating up, with players like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and now Aviva testing blockchain-based share classes. If Aviva’s digital twin model gains traction, expect more European asset managers to follow, particularly as regulators clarify rules around tokenized fund distribution and settlement. The key test will be whether investors beyond crypto-native firms adopt these on-chain share classes at scale—and whether the XRP Ledger can capture a meaningful share of that flow.
