Aviva Investors has committed £50 million to a tokenized share class of its Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger, its second launch with Ripple since July and one that lifts its tokenized total past £86 million. The £22 billion figure refers to the existing fund, not to what has moved on-chain.
Mark Versey, CEO of Aviva Investors, said the latest launch demonstrates the company’s ambition to expand its tokenization capabilities.
“We believe tokenised funds can increase efficiency and ultimately lead to improved client outcomes,” Versey said in the company’s announcement.
He also credited Ripple’s contribution to the initiative, adding that both companies intend to continue exploring opportunities in tokenization.
The move highlights a growing institutional interest in using blockchain technology to modernize fund administration and distribution without necessarily replacing established investment structures.
Sterling liquidity fund retains its traditional investment structure
The Sterling Liquidity Fund is an Ireland-domiciled Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) money market fund established in 2002. It invests in high-grade, short-term debt instruments denominated in British pounds and targets low-risk returns while offering daily liquidity.
Aviva’s new share class uses what the company calls a “digital twin” model. Under this arrangement, blockchain records represent fund holdings, while the underlying portfolio and conventional fund structure remain in place.
This distinction is important because tokenization does not turn the fund into a cryptocurrency investment. Investors acquire interests in a regulated money market fund rather than direct exposure to XRP, the digital asset associated with the XRP Ledger.
According to Aviva Investors, eligible holders of the tokenized shares retain the same investment objective, risk profile, liquidity characteristics and regulatory protections as conventional shareholders.
Access is restricted to eligible investors using digital wallets. The arrangement is supported by Komainu, a regulated institutional digital asset custodian, and Licuido, a platform providing infrastructure for tokenizing and managing financial assets. BNY Mellon continues to hold the fund’s underlying assets.
The structure aims to combine blockchain-based ownership records with existing institutional custody and regulatory arrangements. It also allows Aviva to explore digital distribution without rebuilding the fund’s investment framework from scratch.
Aviva launched its first tokenized fund share class on July 29, 2026, when it introduced the U.S. Dollar Liquidity Fund on XRPL. The latest offering builds on that initial deployment and extends the partnership into a second currency-denominated money market product.
£86 million in tokenized investments puts institutional adoption in focus
Aviva’s £50 million commitment to the new share class brings its combined investments across the sterling and dollar tokenized offerings to more than £86 million, equivalent to approximately $116 million in the companies’ announcement.
The milestone strengthens Aviva Investors’ position in Europe’s emerging tokenized money market fund sector. It also illustrates how established asset managers are testing blockchain infrastructure through familiar products rather than relying exclusively on crypto-native investment vehicles.
Ripple says the XRP Ledger provides fast, low-cost infrastructure for issuing and managing the digital shares. According to the announcement, the network has processed more than four billion transactions since 2012, supports nearly eight million active wallets and is maintained by more than 130 independent validators.
Nigel Khakoo, Ripple’s senior vice president of trading and markets, said financial markets are moving toward continuous access and faster settlement.
“Markets are moving to 24/7 access and settlement is moving to real-time, always-on rails,” Khakoo said.
The comments reflect a central argument behind financial asset tokenization: blockchain-based infrastructure could make certain transactions and ownership records easier to manage, potentially reducing operational friction. Actual benefits, however, depend on how the technology integrates with fund administrators, custodians, investor onboarding and existing settlement systems.
Ripple has also invested in tokenization infrastructure providers, including ZILO and Licuido, as it seeks to expand the range of financial assets and services available through XRPL.
Sterling liquidity fund launch joins a wider tokenization race
Aviva’s latest offering arrives as major financial institutions expand their own blockchain-based investment products. On October 22, JPMorgan Asset Management announced that its MONY and JLTXX tokenized money market funds had become available on Solana for qualified U.S. investors through its Morgan Money platform.
MONY provides qualified investors with access to U.S. dollar yields, while JLTXX is a government money market fund designed to support liquidity needs, including those of stablecoin issuers.
Franklin Templeton has also expanded its Benji tokenized fund platform across multiple blockchains, while BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has established tokenized share classes across several networks.
These developments point to increasing competition among blockchain networks and financial institutions seeking to attract tokenized real-world assets. Money market funds are an important testing ground because they already operate within established regulatory frameworks and provide exposure to short-term debt instruments.
For Aviva Investors, the Sterling Liquidity Fund launch offers a practical test of whether blockchain-based share records can support institutional fund distribution while preserving conventional investment safeguards.
The companies have not disclosed the number of external investors subscribing to the new sterling share class or announced additional settlement services arising from the launch.
For now, the clearest result is a larger tokenized product offering and a deeper partnership between Aviva Investors and Ripple. Whether the model expands into other asset classes will depend on investor demand, operational performance and the ability to deliver measurable benefits over traditional fund infrastructure.