Several cohort teams are already live and scaling their applications on XRPL to leverage its 3–5 second transaction settlement times, sub-cent fees, and native support for stablecoins like RLUSD.
"Payments, AI agents, and real-world assets are where blockchain is starting to deliver true value," said David Bchiri, President of XRPL Commons. "This cohort demonstrates that founders in these high-impact sectors are choosing the XRP Ledger. Many of these teams already have live products and active users. They join the Aquarium to scale, and our job is to provide the resources, guidance, and ecosystem connections to accelerate that growth."
Five Themes Shaping the Next Wave of On-Chain Finance
1. Everyday Payments & Stablecoin Commerce
- XRPay – Commerce and payments tools for merchants, supporting XRP and RLUSD payments on the XRP Ledger.
- Payinnov Labs – Omnichannel platform enabling online and physical merchants to accept traditional card payments alongside stablecoins.
- Salypay – AI-powered fintech platform offering automated cross-border remittances and merchant payments.
- Netten – Fast-settlement payout infrastructure tailored for small businesses, service providers, and freelancers.
- Zeno – A compliant, privacy-preserving protocol for peer-to-peer mobile payments on XRPL.
2. Agentic Finance (AI-to-AI Transactions)
The XRP Ledger has emerged as a key network for x402 agentic payments, settling over 8 million AI transactions in the last 30 days.
- Ultra AI – Autonomous agent-to-agent discovery and transaction network for business opportunities.
- AgntPymt – The governance and authorization layer allowing AI agents to transact safely within corporate policies and financial audits.
3. Real-World Assets & Climate Finance
- Megawatt – Winner of the Paris Blockchain Week Hackathon; allows users to invest in and trade fractionalized positions in commercial battery energy storage systems.
- HestiaX – Lending infrastructure for the energy transition
4. DeFi & Credit Markets
- Straid – Decentralized collateralized lending platform allowing users to borrow RLUSD against XRP holdings.
- Laguna – Tokenized private credit infrastructure bringing institutional yield opportunities on-chain.
5. DeFi - Trade Finance
- GenWealth – Automated, secure asset succession and inheritance distribution Infrastructure.
- Vynex Tech’s, Paper-chain.io is an AI-powered trade finance compliance platform that automates Letter of Credit (LC) verification against UCP 600 standards, leveraging the XRP Ledger (XRPL) for a tamper-proof audit trail. The platform is evolving into an end-to-end LC lifecycle and settlement solution, integrating XRPL-powered conditional escrow, stablecoin payments, and automated settlements. Through ChainTrade.Exchange, the ecosystem will further expand into trade finance and lending, creating a unified infrastructure for more secure, transparent, and efficient global trade.
Why Founders Choose the XRP Ledger
Running continuously since 2012, the XRP Ledger was engineered from the ground up specifically for compliant institutional finance and global asset transfers. Rather than stacking smart contracts on top, developers build directly on native, compliance-ready ledger features:
- Built-in Institutional Compliance: Native Decentralized Identity (DIDs, XLS-40), Credentials (XLS-70), and Permissioned Domains (XLS-80) enable automated KYC/AML checks and regulated asset transfers directly at the protocol level.
- Machine-Speed Finality: Deterministic 3–5 second transaction settlement with micro-fees around $0.0002—enabling high-frequency micro-payments down to individual AI API calls.
- Agentic Payment Infrastructure: Native X402 support, built by t54, lets AI agents transact autonomously and safely in XRP, RLUSD, or EURØP stablecoins.
- Multi-Currency & Stablecoin Settlement: Native issuer controls and asset issuance make multi-currency, cross-border payment settlements effortless.
- Institutional Security & Delegation: Features like Permission Delegation (XLS-75) grant granular transaction rights without key sharing, while Batching (XLS-56) bundles complex operations into single, atomic executions.
A Global, Fully Online Startup Program
Moving to a fully online format allows the Aquarium to expand its reach globally, with strong focus on high-growth teams across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Over nine weeks, cohort members participate in live workshops, direct coaching on technical and go-to-market strategies, and direct mentorship from XRPL experts. Midway through the program, an online Demo Day will connect founders directly with global Web3 venture investors. Upon completion, startups become eligible for milestone-based grants from XRPL Commons.
Four startups in this cohort—Straid, XRPay, Paper-Chain, and Netten—entered the Aquarium directly after completing Make Waves, XRPL Commons' 90-day builder challenge that ran through September 2026.
"Seeing teams transition directly from the Make Waves challenge into the Aquarium demonstrates the strength of our builder funnel," said Aurélien Burget, Aquarium Director at XRPL Commons. "Going fully remote allows us to back world-class founders regardless of geography. Over the next nine weeks, we will work alongside these 13 teams on product refining, market entry, and fundraising strategies."
About XRPL Commons & The Aquarium
The Aquarium is XRPL Commons' flagship startup program supporting pre-seed and seed-stage teams building on or migrating to the XRP Ledger. Since 2023, the program has supported more than 70 founders across 25+ countries. Alumni include Regolda (tokenized gold investment), BlockVault (decentralized yield and lending), and Mobile Wallet (on/off-ramp infrastructure for emerging markets).
XRPL Commons is where builders launch on the XRP Ledger. XRPL Commons, a nonprofit organization, takes developers and founders from their first line of code to a growing company. It runs education and developer programs, hackathons and builder challenges, the Aquarium startup program for pre-seed and seed teams, and milestone-based grants. Through strategic partnerships across payments, infrastructure and wallets, XRPL Commons connects teams with the users, institutions and investors they need to scale. XRPL Commons supports a community of more than 5,000 active builders and has backed more than 70 projects from 20+ countries. XRPL Commons is headquartered in Paris.
FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
What is the Aquarium by XRPL Commons?
The Aquarium is XRPL Commons' flagship startup program for pre-seed and seed-stage teams building on the XRP Ledger, or moving to it from another blockchain. Since 2023, it has supported more than 70 founders from over 20 countries. Alumni include Regolda, BlockVault and Mobile Wallet.
Which startups were selected for Aquarium Cohort 9?
XRPL Commons selected 13 startups from 11 countries for Cohort 9: XRPay, Payinnov, Salypay, Netten, Zeno, Ultra AI, AgntPymt, Megawatt, HestiaX, Straid, Laguna, GenWealth and Paper-Chain. They cover five themes: payments and stablecoin commerce, agentic finance, real-world assets and climate finance, DeFi and credit markets, and legaltech and trade securitization.
What is new about Aquarium Cohort 9?
Cohort 9 is the first fully online edition of the Aquarium. The program was previously run in person in Paris. Going online opens it to founders anywhere in the world, with a particular focus on high-growth teams in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
How long does the Aquarium program last, and how does it work?
The Aquarium runs for nine weeks, fully online. Founders attend live workshops and receive one-to-one coaching on technology and go-to-market strategy, plus mentorship from XRPL experts. An online Demo Day halfway through the program introduces founders to Web3 venture investors.
What do startups get from the Aquarium?
Startups in the Aquarium receive expert workshops, technical and business coaching, mentorship from XRPL specialists, and introductions to investors and partners across the XRPL ecosystem. After completing the program, they become eligible for milestone-based grants from XRPL Commons.
Who can apply to the Aquarium, and when?
The Aquarium is open to pre-seed and seed-stage startups that are building on the XRP Ledger or moving to it from another ecosystem. Teams need at least one full-time founder and a working MVP. Cohorts run twice a year, in spring and fall.
Why are startups choosing to build on the XRP Ledger?
The XRP Ledger has run continuously since 2012 and was built for payments and institutional finance. It settles transactions in 3–5 seconds, with fees of around $0.0002. Stablecoins such as RLUSD and EURØP run natively on the ledger. Compliance tools are built into the protocol, including decentralized identity, credentials and permissioned domains.
How do AI agents make payments on the XRP Ledger?
AI agents can pay on the XRP Ledger using the x402 protocol. With x402, agents pay for APIs, data and services in XRP or stablecoins such as RLUSD, with settlement in seconds. According to t54, the XRP Ledger settled more than 8 million x402 transactions in the 30 days to 8 October 2026.
What is Make Waves?
Make Waves is XRPL Commons' 90-day challenge for builders to build, ship and grow an app on the XRP Ledger. It ran from 21 June to 21 September 2026. Four Make Waves teams went straight into Aquarium Cohort 9: Straid, XRPay, Paper-Chain and Netten.
What is XRPL Commons?
XRPL Commons is where builders launch on the XRP Ledger. The nonprofit takes developers and founders from their first line of code to a growing company. It runs education and developer programs, hackathons and builder challenges, the Aquarium startup program for pre-seed and seed teams, and milestone-based grants. Through strategic partnerships across payments, infrastructure and wallets, it connects teams with the users, institutions and investors they need to scale. XRPL Commons supports a community of more than 5,000 active builders and has backed more than 73 projects from 27+ countries. XRPL Commons is headquartered in Paris.
.JPG)
.jpg)
