Mercado Bitcoin, one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms in Latin America, has revealed plans to convert authorized real global assets valued at over $200 million into digital tokens on the $XRP ledger.
Digital.
This is one of the most ambitious digital token conversion projects in the region to date and reflects the company's growing focus on global expansion.
The $XRP digital ledger aims for leadership in real global assets.
Converted digital assets will include fixed income instruments and equity-based instruments. The initiative is designed to enhance access to regulated digital products across South America and Europe.
According to Silvio Pegado, Managing Director of #Ripple in Latin America, the integration highlights the growing trust institutions place in public blockchain networks.
"Across Latin America, we see forward-looking institutions exploring how tokenization can enhance access and efficiency in financial markets. The integration of Mercado Bitcoin with XRPL illustrates how public blockchain infrastructure is trusted by institutions and becomes a reliable foundation for launching regulated financial products in the market," he said.
Tokenization refers to the process of issuing digital copies of traditional assets - such as securities or bonds - on blockchain networks. Analysts believe that the market for tokenized assets could exceed $600 billion by 2025 and rise to $19 trillion by 2033.
A report from Ripple and the Boston Consulting Group attributes this growth to increased institutional demand and improvements in blockchain infrastructure.
It is worth noting that many traditional financial institutions, such as BlackRock and Guggenheim Partners, have already shown interest in this field. This underscores the role that converted digital assets will play in the global financial system in the future.
In light of this, many blockchain networks are racing to capture market share to meet these evolving requirements.
Ethereum currently leads the sector with a converted digital asset value of $7.5 billion. In comparison, data from RW,A.XYZ ranks the digital ledger $XRP in tenth place, hosting approximately $157 million in converted digital assets.
Tokenizing real global assets according to blockchain. Source: R,W,A.X,YZ
Despite the gap, Ripple executives say that XRPL's infrastructure can help bridge the distance in the near future.
Pegado noted that XRPL's consistent performance is a key strength. He also pointed out that the low-cost, high-speed network structure meets the needs of institutions seeking compliant blockchain environments.
"With the type of infrastructure that XRPL provides, it is now possible to bring these assets [real global assets] on-chain in a way that meets institutional expectations in terms of cost, speed, and compliance," Pegado said.
Moreover, recent network upgrades may accelerate its adoption for converting assets into digital tokens.
The recent introduction of XRPL's Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible sidechain opens the door for native Ethereum decentralized applications.
Additionally, the introduction of features such as batch transactions, cross-chain interoperability, authorized decentralized exchanges, and tokenized collateral aims to enhance the overall user experience. These upgrades are also designed to increase the network's appeal to institutional participants.