BNY is RLUSD's primary reserve custodian, Ripple says; Ripple issues the coin

Ripple said on July 9, 2025 it had chosen BNY as primary custodian of the reserves behind Ripple USD. BNY is The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Ripple USD, or RLUSD, is Ripple's dollar stablecoin. BNY's job is custody of the reserve assets. It does not issue the coin. Ripple's RLUSD product page was read on Oct. 14, 2026. It places issuance with a limited purpose trust chartered by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The page also repeats the July 2025 choice of BNY.

Key facts from Ripple's July 9, 2025 release

• Reserve custody: BNY is the primary reserve custodian of RLUSD.
• Banking for Ripple: Ripple uses BNY's transaction banking services to support its own operations and its customers.
• Charter: A trust company charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). RLUSD is one of a small number of stablecoins worldwide operating under one.
• Listed safeguards: Dollar backing at 1:1 with high-quality liquid assets. Strict reserve management and asset segregation. Third-party audits and clear redemption rights.

Who does what: issuer, custodian and banker

Ripple describes RLUSD as its own stablecoin, issued through a limited purpose trust chartered by NYDFS. These sources do not name the trust's legal entity. The coin is issued under regulatory oversight, it says. It cites approval from NYDFS and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). BNY plays two separate parts. First, it is primary custodian of the reserves. Second, the July release says Ripple uses BNY's transaction banking services to support its own operations. That second deal covers Ripple's business rather than the token's reserves. Neither part makes BNY the issuer of RLUSD.

What backs each RLUSD and where the reserves are held

Ripple's RLUSD page says each token is supported one-to-one by cash deposits, U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents. Those assets are held in segregated accounts at "depository institutions and securities custodians." The wording is plural. The only custodian it names is BNY, as primary custodian.

What BNY says about its custody service

BNY's digital assets page describes its custody service in general terms. It says the service helps with asset segregation and compliance. It also says the service helps mitigate risks tied to digital tokens and cryptocurrencies. That fits the segregated accounts Ripple describes. It is still BNY's general description of a service, not a term of the Ripple agreement.

What Ripple says about redemption and outside checks

The redemption promise comes from Ripple. Its RLUSD page covers the case where Ripple stops issuing RLUSD. The coin would then remain redeemable for U.S. dollars "as long as outstanding tokens are in circulation." It also says Ripple publishes monthly third-party attestations of the reserve assets. The July release uses a different word. It lists "third-party audits" among RLUSD's safeguards.

What BNY's size does and does not show

BNY's corporate profile, printed with the July 2025 release, gave the bank's scale. As of March 31, 2025, BNY oversaw $53.1 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration. The figure covers BNY's custody and administration business as a whole. It is not the size of the RLUSD reserve. It does not measure how safe that reserve is either.

Whose statement is it?

Nearly every safety statement about RLUSD comes from Ripple, not BNY. Ripple's statements come from two documents: the July 9, 2025 release and the undated RLUSD product page. BNY's own public statements here cover its custody service in general and its overall size.

Analysis: what the BNY name adds and what it leaves open

A bank holding the reserves is not a bank backing the coin. In these documents, BNY's part is custody and banking services. The promise to turn tokens back into dollars is Ripple's. The word "primary" matters too. Ripple's list of depository institutions and securities custodians is plural. Next to that list, "primary" points to BNY as the main holder, not necessarily the only one. For a holder, the BNY name answers where the reserves are kept. Questions about getting dollars back lead to Ripple's own terms.

What the documents do not say

These are Ripple and BNY statements, not independent checks. They leave out the custody terms, fees, insolvency treatment, BNY's share of the reserves and the firm behind the attestations. The attestation reports and user terms themselves were not reviewed.

RLUSD's reserve of cash deposits, U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents is one stablecoin design. A separate explainer covers how algorithmic stablecoins work and why their pegs can break. To check Ripple's reserve statements, read the monthly attestation reports and the RLUSD Stablecoin User Terms that Ripple's RLUSD page links to.

Sources: Ripple Selects BNY to Custody Ripple USD Reserves (ripple.com), accessed Oct 14, 2026 · RLUSD: The USD Stablecoin for Institutions | Ripple (ripple.com), accessed Oct 14, 2026 · Digital Assets Solutions | BNY (bny.com), accessed Oct 14, 2026 · BNY Mellon Makes Major Crypto Move: Secures Custody Deal for Enterprise-Grade… (stocktitan.net), accessed Oct 14, 2026

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