Billiton Diamond and tokenization company Ctrl Alt announced on Tuesday that they have moved $280 million worth of certified polished diamonds on-chain in the UAE, using Ripple’s custody technology to protect assets and assets. $XRP A ledger for issuing tokens associated with physical inventory.
The initiative is structured as an institutional-grade tokenization pipeline for polished stones held in the UAE, and the companies said they have already tokenized over AED 1 billion ($280 million) in diamond inventory.
While the companies are positioning the project as a pathway to faster payments and clearer provenance data, the next steps depend on regulatory approvals, with any move towards broader platform launch and wider distribution subject to approval from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).
The companies said Ripple’s enterprise custody tools will secure the tokenized inventory, while XRPL will handle issuance and transfer. This places Ripple in the piping layer rather than the market layer. This distinction is important because the hard problem with tokenized products is not minting the tokens, but whether they can be meaningfully traded with tight spreads, reliable pricing, and clear redemption mechanisms.
The companies also flagged longer “lifecycle” features such as storage, transfer and secondary market support, but did not share details such as how redemption would work, what the minimum lot size would be or how pricing for individual stones would be formed. All of these are important factors for markets that want to move beyond managed pilots.
Dubai’s DMCC said it played a coordinating role by bringing together stakeholders and supporting an ecosystem around the tokenization of goods as the emirate pushes to make RWA a real business line.
