A quiet transformation is underway in global finance—one that could redefine how money moves across borders. While debates around cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) often dominate headlines, the deeper innovation lies in interoperability—the ability for different payment systems to communicate seamlessly.
Recently, crypto researcher SMQKE drew attention to a World Bank report that highlights Ripple’s Interledger Protocol (ILP) and XRP as promising technologies for revolutionizing international payments.
World Bank’s Groundbreaking Focus on Interoperability
The report, titled Blockchain Interoperability, was published by the World Bank’s Technology and Innovation Lab as part of its exploration into emerging financial technologies. It underscores that the fragmentation of payment networks remains one of the biggest barriers to efficient global transactions.
To solve this, the report spotlights interoperability as the key to a future financial system where money moves as effortlessly as data does across the internet. In that context, the World Bank identifies Ripple’s Interledger Protocol (ILP) as a leading innovation capable of bridging both blockchain and traditional systems.
According to the paper, ILP routes “packets of value” between separate ledgers—functioning similarly to how the Internet Protocol (IP) routes data packets between networks. This architecture, the report notes, could lay the foundation for a true “Internet of Value.”
OFFICIAL WORLD BANK REPORT CONSIDERS RIPPLE’S INTERLEDGER PROTOCOL AND XRP VERY PROMISING FOR THE PAYMENTS DOMAIN‼
Documented.📝👇 https://t.co/Lknk9pWY1spic.twitter.com/grZbefCh5L
— SMQKE (@SMQKEDQG) October 14, 2025
Interledger: Connecting Blockchains and Beyond
At its core, ILP enables payments to pass through multiple (crypto and non-crypto) networks without requiring every participant to share the same infrastructure or asset. The protocol utilizes specialized connectors and settlement engines to transfer value atomically and securely between ledgers.
The World Bank highlights that the Interledger team has already developed settlement mechanisms compatible with PayPal, mobile money systems, and various blockchain networks.
This broad integration capability makes ILP uniquely positioned to unify fragmented payment ecosystems, including those used in developing economies where financial inclusion remains a challenge.
Ripple’s XRP Ledger Proves Key to Seamless Settlements
Among the most compelling findings in the report is the documented experiment linking Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL) via Interledger nodes. This test demonstrated the protocol’s ability to transfer value between completely different blockchain environments in real time.
The World Bank explicitly describes the Interledger project and XRP as “very promising for the payment domain.” It emphasizes how XRP, serving as a bridge asset, can facilitate rapid currency conversions without requiring costly pre-funded accounts—a long-standing bottleneck in cross-border settlement.
As SMQKE noted in his analysis on X, this acknowledgment from one of the world’s most influential financial institutions marks a significant milestone for Ripple’s ecosystem, showcasing institutional validation of its technology’s practical utility.
A Vision for the Future of Global Payments
The implications of these findings extend far beyond Ripple. For banks, fintechs, and central banks developing CBDCs, ILP presents a neutral, open-source framework for interoperability. It allows digital and fiat payment systems to connect seamlessly, improving transparency, liquidity efficiency, and settlement speed.
Combined with XRP’s liquidity and low-cost transaction model, this approach could pave the way for a truly borderless financial system, where cross-border payments occur in seconds, not days. It also supports the World Bank’s broader mission of enhancing financial inclusion through scalable, interoperable technologies.
The World Bank’s Blockchain Interoperability report—brought to wider attention by SMQKE’s post on X—offers strong evidence that Ripple’s Interledger Protocol and XRP are leading innovations in global payments.
While the paper does not serve as a formal endorsement, its conclusions are unmistakable: interoperability is the future, and Ripple’s technology is already demonstrating how that future can work.
As the financial world edges closer to an Internet of Value, Ripple’s ILP and XRP are positioned at the center of a new era—one defined by seamless, instant, and universal value exchange.