Ripple-backed custody secures $280 million diamond tokenization push in UAE

Billiton Diamond and tokenization firm Ctrl Alt said Tuesday they had moved more than $280 million worth of certified polished diamonds on-chain in the UAE, using Ripple’s custody technology to secure the assets and the $XRP Ledger to mint tokens tied to physical inventory.

The initiative — framed as an institutional-grade tokenization pipeline for polished stones held in the UAE — has already tokenized over AED 1 billion ($280 million) in diamond inventory, the firms said.

While the companies are positioning the project as a route to faster settlement and clearer provenance data, the next phase hinges on regulatory clearance: a broader platform launch and any move toward wider distribution would be subject to approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).

The companies said Ripple’s enterprise custody tools will secure the tokenized inventory, while the XRPL will handle issuance and transfers. That puts Ripple in the plumbing layer rather than the marketplace layer — a distinction that matters, because the harder question in tokenized commodities isn’t minting tokens, it’s whether they can trade meaningfully with tight spreads, reliable pricing and clear redemption mechanics.

The firms also flagged a longer runway of “lifecycle” features — such as custody, transfers and secondary-market readiness — but did not share details on how redemptions would work, what minimum lot sizes might look like, or how pricing would be formed for individual stones, all key factors for any market that wants to move beyond a controlled pilot.

Dubai’s DMCC said it played a coordinating role by connecting stakeholders and supporting the ecosystem around commodities tokenization, as the emirate pushes to make RWAs a real business line.