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Ripple has announced a strategic investment in Notabene, a regulated on-chain transaction network, as part of efforts to promote the adoption of RLUSD in institutional stablecoin payments.

Partnership aims for compliance and scaleThrough this collaboration, Ripple will integrate RLUSD, its dollar-backed stablecoin, into Notabene Flow, Notabene’s dedicated B2B stablecoin payments platform. Notabene’s system focuses on providing regulated transaction infrastructure and compliance tools to financial institutions.

By integrating RLUSD within Notabene Flow, both companies intend to streamline stablecoin-based payments for enterprises while addressing regulatory requirements and risk controls.

Ripple, best known for its global payments and blockchain solutions, developed RLUSD to offer financial institutions a compliant and efficient stablecoin option for business transactions.

Mini dictionary: Notabene, a Swiss-based company, connects regulated financial institutions and digital asset platforms worldwide with a focus on on-chain transaction compliance and verification.

Infrastructure and regulatory obligationsNotabene operates a network that enables regulated digital asset transactions, connecting over 2,300 institutions across more than 100 jurisdictions. The platform reportedly supports $2 trillion in annualized transaction volume and offers comprehensive compliance, identity verification, and transaction authorization tools required by financial institutions.

As more financial entities explore stablecoins for payments, they face increasing challenges related to regulatory standards, compliance, and verification of transaction parties. Notabene’s solution seeks to address these hurdles before any fund transfers take place.

CompanyCore ServiceInstitutions ConnectedJurisdictionsAnnual Transaction VolumeNotabeneOn-chain transaction compliance2,300+100+$2 trillionRippleEnterprise payments, stablecoinsN/A (focus on global enterprise)GlobalN/AVoices from Ripple and NotabeneJack McDonald, Senior Vice President of Stablecoin at Ripple, emphasized the need for robust compliance and identity procedures, stating that technological efficiency alone is not enough for stablecoins to achieve widespread institutional adoption. He pointed to the importance of transaction authorization and ongoing compliance for enabling responsible and scalable use.

Jack McDonald explained that settlement rails must be supported by strong compliance, identity, and transaction authorization for institutional stablecoins to move fully into the mainstream.

Pelle Braendgaard, CEO of Notabene, observed that most institutions have progressed past the evaluation stage and are now focused on integrating stablecoins into their operations while fulfilling complex regulatory and compliance requirements.

Pelle Braendgaard noted that financial institutions are now focused on implementing stablecoins within their existing workflows and maintaining regulatory compliance, rather than simply assessing their utility.

Outlook and regulatory momentumThis investment by Ripple comes as regulated stablecoin infrastructure sees significant expansion, driven by new frameworks including the GENIUS Act in the United States and Europe’s MiCA rules. Both Ripple and Notabene indicated plans to continue building out Notabene Flow’s availability for financial institutions worldwide, aiming to facilitate compliant, cross-border stablecoin payments at larger scale.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

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As part of our ongoing effort to ensure the right incentives are in place for verifiers and to direct Axelar’s resources toward the ecosystems delivering the most value, we are proposing a governance vote to discontinue three Amplifier chain integrations: Flow, Berachain, and Plume.

BackgroundCommon Prefix’s 2026 roadmap for Axelar has been centered on institutional adoption, strengthening economic security, enabling compliant and privacy-aware infrastructure, and building institutional products up the stack.

A central part of this has been strengthening economic security and improving verifier and broader ecosystem incentives, as well as focusing the network on ecosystems where real activity exists, where interoperability creates tangible value, and where security assumptions are aligned with Axelar’s long-term standards.

That direction requires a disciplined approach to network expansion: doubling down on key ecosystems we have high conviction on and that we believe are here for the long run, while winding down connections whose cost, associated security risks, and operational overhead are no longer justified.

Why These Three ChainsEvery chain connection introduces operational, economic, and security considerations. Flow, Berachain, and Plume were integrated into Axelar through the Amplifier framework and, since launch, have not generated meaningful transaction volume or sustained usage. At the same time, each one requires ongoing verifier infrastructure, which carries real operational costs and dilutes focus across the network.

The foundation has been subsidizing verifier costs across these three connections, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. An internal review of interchain transfer activity across these integrations found effectively no sustained economic activity. While some legitimate assets had been registered on these chains, little to no transfer activity was identified across the connections.

How This Will Be ManagedThis proposal will go through Axelar’s standard governance process. Token holders will have the opportunity to review the full proposal and cast their votes within three days.

We have already been in direct communication with the teams behind all three chains ahead of this proposal going public. If this governance proposal passes, a one-week notice period will begin before the integrations are formally discontinued.

Given the lack of meaningful transfer activity across these connections, we do not expect material impact to users, asset holders, or application developers.

Next StepsWe encourage the community to carefully review this proposal and cast their vote.

Find the governance proposal here.

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