Ripple’s relationship with major global banks stretches back more than a decade, but the nature of those relationships has changed considerably as institutional digital-asset infrastructure has developed. Barclays and HSBC provide two useful examples. Barclays was among 12 banks that participated in a 2016 R3 trial involving Ripple technology and XRP for potential cross-border payments. HSBC, meanwhile, has developed a more recent relationship with Ripple through institutional digital-asset custody, following Ripple’s acquisition of Metaco in 2023.
These connections demonstrate that major banks have explored Ripple-related technology at different stages, although they should not be interpreted as proof that either bank currently uses XRP for live, production cross-border payments.
Barclays’ XRP Connection Dates Back to 2016
Barclays’ connection to XRP is directly documented in Ripple’s October 2016 announcement covering an R3-led trial involving 12 banks. The participating institutions included Barclays, BMO Financial Group, CIBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, Macquarie Group, National Australia Bank, Natixis, Nordea, Royal Bank of Canada, Santander, Scotiabank and Westpac.
The trial examined whether XRP could provide liquidity for interbank cross-border payments and potentially reduce the reliance on traditional nostro accounts used to pre-fund international transactions. Ripple said the participants conducted transactions through its network at R3’s laboratory and research centre.
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That historical trial is significant because it establishes an actual Barclays-XRP connection rather than a speculative association based on a diagram or third-party claim. However, the evidence is from 2016 and describes an experimental trial. It does not establish that Barclays subsequently deployed XRP as a production settlement asset for its global payment operations. This distinction becomes increasingly important when older institutional blockchain experiments are discussed alongside more recent developments in digital assets.
HSBC’s relationship with Ripple has followed a different path, particularly through custody and tokenization. Ripple acquired Metaco, a Swiss provider of institutional digital-asset custody and tokenization technology, in 2023. Ripple said the acquisition would expand its ability to provide institutions with technology for custody, issuance and settlement of tokenized assets. HSBC was subsequently identified by Ripple as one of the major banking institutions connected to its custody business.
HSBC Relationship Moves Toward Institutional Infrastructure
HSBC’s own 2024 investor materials provide stronger evidence of this relationship than claims about XRP payments. The bank said its planned digital-asset custody service would use Metaco’s Harmonize platform and was scheduled to go live that year. HSBC also operates HSBC Orion for issuing and storing native digital assets such as digital bonds, placing the bank within a broader institutional tokenization strategy.
The distinction between custody infrastructure and XRP payments matters. Ripple’s current institutional offering covers areas including custody, tokenization, stablecoins and digital-asset settlement, meaning a bank can use Ripple-related technology without necessarily using XRP as a payment bridge. Ripple itself describes its custody platform as infrastructure for institutions handling cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
The Barclays and HSBC examples therefore illustrate two different stages of institutional engagement with Ripple-related technology. Barclays has a documented historical XRP trial through R3, while HSBC has a documented connection to Ripple’s institutional custody infrastructure through Metaco. Neither example, by itself, proves that the banks are currently processing production cross-border payments using XRP. What the evidence does show is that Ripple’s institutional relationships have evolved from early experiments involving digital assets toward broader infrastructure covering custody, tokenization and settlement. That progression is important for understanding where Ripple fits within traditional finance, without overstating what individual banking relationships currently mean for XRP adoption.
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