Ripple Invests in t54 Labs Seed Round, Eyes XRPL Machine Payments via RLUSD

t54 Labs confirmed on Feb. 25 that Ripple joined its $5 million seed round as a strategic investor, a move the report framed as signaling Ripple’s intent to deepen the XRP Ledger’s role in the emerging agent-driven economy ^[1].

The investment is tied to infrastructure work that could enable autonomous software agents to transact on the XRP Ledger, including plans referenced for machine payments via an RLUSD construct on XRPL, according to the report ^[1].

Separately, Ripple published a whitepaper titled “Plan for Corporate Digital Asset Trading” aimed at banks and institutional trading frameworks, while broader 2026 roadmap and network changes outlined shifts in XRPL development funding and developer support programs, indicating multiple concurrent initiatives across institutional and protocol layers ^[3][4][5].

Market-facing activity around XRP continued in Japan, where SBI Holdings said it will issue a ¥10 billion retail bond and is offering an XRP perk tied to account and receipt procedures at SBI VC Trade; subscription and trading dates were disclosed in the announcement and coverage ^[2].

Taken together, the reports document coordinated investor, product, and market initiatives involving Ripple, XRPL development, and corporate/institutional engagement with XRP and related services ^{[1][3][4][5][2]}.