Federal Reserve Officially Adopts ISO 20022 for FedWire: What This Means for Ripple

Ripple could benefit immensely as the Federal Reserve officially adopts ISO 20022 for FedWire, having already positioned itself with early compliance.

Notably, the U.S. Federal Reserve today officially made the switch to ISO 20022 for its FedWire Funds Service. This represented an important step toward modernizing the country’s payment infrastructure

FedWire Switches to ISO 20022

Essentially, as of July 14, 2025, all financial institutions that use FedWire must now send and receive messages using the ISO 20022 format. The change follows an earlier delay from March 2025, which gave banks and service providers extra time to prepare for the transition.

Ripple is Already ISO 20022 Compliant

Interestingly, Ripple already positioned itself early to take advantage of this push. Specifically, in 2020, Ripple became the first blockchain-focused company to join the ISO 20022 Standards Body

Since then, it has built its global payment platform, RippleNet, to fully support ISO 20022. This allows Ripple to connect smoothly with banks, payment providers, and other financial institutions that follow the new standard.

RippleNet uses a common, structured messaging system that fits into the ISO 20022 framework. This setup improves transaction speed, accuracy, and transparency, which are important features that banks now need as they adapt to the Federal Reserve’s update

While XRP, the crypto asset Ripple uses for liquidity, doesn’t directly follow ISO 20022, it still plays an important role in Ripple’s operations. For context, XRP flows through RippleNet’s infrastructure, which meets ISO 20022 requirements, making it useful in compliant cross-border payments.

Also, Ripple leverages XRP through its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service (now Ripple Payments), which removes the need for pre-funded accounts by allowing instant currency conversion and settlement

How Could Ripple Benefit?

This move by the Federal Reserve could actually open new opportunities for Ripple. For instance, U.S. banks and financial institutions now need technology partners that already meet the ISO 20022 standard

Ripple has already done the heavy lifting. Specifically, its early membership in the standards body, full RippleNet compliance, and strong global partnerships put it in a great position to support U.S. institutions through this change.

Besides its ISO 20022 compliance, Ripple is also making inroads within the U.S. banking sector. Earlier this month, the blockchain payment firm applied for a banking license in the U.S. as well as a Federal Reserve master account for RLUSD, its proprietary stablecoin