The XRP Ledger (XRPL) and the Bank for International Settlements’ (BIS) Project Meridian share a core ambition: enabling value exchange across different systems in a way that either completely succeeds or doesn’t happen at all.
This atomic-settlement goal links distributed-ledger networks and traditional financial infrastructure. XRPL, a real-world blockchain, already mirrors many of Meridian’s conceptual guarantees.
In a recent post on X, analyst SMQKE highlighted this resemblance. XRPL appears to behave like a live version of Meridian’s proposed “Neutral Settlement Layer” (NSL), where a cross-ledger exchange either completes everywhere or aborts everywhere.
What Is Project Meridian?
Project Meridian was launched by BIS (through its Innovation Hub) and partner central banks to explore how traditional payment systems could work with distributed-ledger platforms. The goal: to permit simultaneous exchange of central bank money (via RTGS systems) and other assets on different ledgers.
THE XRPL DEMONSTRATES THE SAME ATOMIC SETTLEMENT MODEL USED IN BIS PROJECT MERIDIAN‼
XRPL 🤝 Bank of International Settlements
“The NSL's purpose is to ensure that a cross-ledger exchange either completes everywhere or aborts everywhere.”🙇♂️
NSL = Neutral Settlement… https://t.co/akV1iEpMSOpic.twitter.com/MQ7FsPbMdI
— SMQKE (@SMQKEDQG) November 25, 2025
A new entity — the “synchronisation operator” — would coordinate these exchanges. If one leg fails, both legs are reversed.
In the 2025 FX-focused iteration, Project Meridian FX successfully demonstrated payment-versus-payment (PvP) settlement across different payment infrastructures. Settlements occurred atomically, eliminating the risk of one party depositing funds while the other fails to deliver the asset.
Meridian’s design is ledger-agnostic: it can link real-time gross settlement systems with DLT platforms. The synchronisation operator serves as a generic interface between differing systems and assets.
XRPL’s Atomic Settlement Mechanisms
From its inception, XRPL was built as a fast, efficient, open-source ledger for value transfer. Transactions settle in 3–5 seconds, with very low fees and deterministic finality.
Beyond simple XRP transfers, XRPL offers advanced transaction types — including cross-currency payments, escrow, payment channels, and more. These tools allow for atomic settlement of multi-asset or multi-step transfers without external intermediaries.
For example, cross-currency payments on XRPL are atomic. That means either the entire payment — converting asset A to asset B — completes, or nothing executes at all. There is no way to end up in a partial state.
We are on X, follow us to connect with us :- @TimesTabloid1
— TimesTabloid (@TimesTabloid1) June 15, 2025
Escrow and payment-channel features further enable conditional or time-locked settlements. Funds sit until specified conditions are met. Only then does distribution occur — or else funds are returned. This behavior resembles the “either-all or none” guarantee central to Meridian’s synchronized settlement.
Additionally, recent upgrades such as the “batch transactions” amendment allow grouped operations to execute atomically. Multiple transactions can be bundled and processed together as a single unit, reducing the risk of partial execution.
Why the Comparison Matters
On the surface, Project Meridian and XRPL differ: Meridian assumes a synchronization operator sitting between RTGS systems and DLT platforms; XRPL requires no external orchestrator — its protocol is the coordination layer. But the end goal is nearly identical: to guarantee settlement finality across systems.
XRPL shows that atomic, deterministic, multi-asset settlement is not just a theoretical construct. It is already built, live, and functional. For institutions and central banks evaluating cross-ledger settlement architectures, XRPL represents a proof-of-concept of what a neutral settlement layer could look like — without needing a centralized operator.
Conversely, Meridian offers a design blueprint for how XRPL-style atomic settlement could scale across entirely distinct infrastructures. Its approach is ledger-neutral and asset-agnostic, implying that the same atomic guarantees could apply to fiat, CBDCs, stablecoins, bonds, equities, or real-world assets.
XRPL and Project Meridian — though born in different spheres — converge on a shared principle: settlement must be all-or-nothing. Thanks to XRPL’s built-in atomic transaction types and escrow/payment-channel capabilities, the ledger delivers the core promise of a “synchronisation operator,” but embedded natively.
As SMQKE pointed out, XRPL effectively operates as a deterministic coordination layer — a real-world analogue of Meridian’s neutral settlement concept. That resemblance underscores XRPL’s importance for global finance.
It suggests that the ledger could serve as a foundational infrastructure for future cross-ledger, cross-asset, and cross-jurisdiction payment systems, without surrendering atomic guarantees.
In short: XRPL is already proving what Project Meridian envisions — and doing it today.