Mark Johnson, vice president of Global Product at Ripple Treasury—winner of the TCM System & Services award for the Most Innovative Treasury Solution (Non-Bank)—explains how the enterprise treasury platform manages around-the-clock liquidity using a modernized financial architecture.
Global Finance: How does Ripple Treasury’s approach to integrating digital asset providers transform the standard treasury management experience for corporations?
Mark Johnson: The breakthrough isn’t just the model; it’s our product architecture. We treat digital asset providers—such as Fireblocks, Ripple, and Circle—exactly like banks. Because these providers are APIfirst, we can create a direct connection. This lets treasurers see digital assets alongside fiat currencies in real time. Any corporate entity holding or moving digital currency that requires real-time pricing in its local tender can view those holdings with the same clarity as cash. This unified source of truth is the core focus of Ripple Treasury.
Digital assets are no longer a peripheral experiment. Building a robust forecasting model requires treating these assets as a whole to ensure data consistency. This alignment is critical because digital finance operates independently of standard banking hours. Digital doesn’t sleep, so our forecasting must be continuous. By unifying these assets, our AI can identify liquidity needs and anomalies 24/7, explaining variances rather than merely flagging them.
GF: Why is API connectivity the primary driver?
Johnson: Innovation accelerates when building for API-first providers. Unlike traditional banking, which is still catching up, the digital ecosystem was built on this standard. Native connectivity simplifies integration and delivers immediate utility by eliminating the need to choose between API and legacy file-based systems. We are building for a trajectory that is inherently real-time.
GF: What is the biggest hurdle for corporates in putting stablecoins on the balance sheet?
Johnson: It’s not just interest or regulatory clarity, which is improving with frameworks like MiCA [Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, in the EU] and the GENIUS Act [in the U.S.]. The real roadblock is workflow integration. CFOs want digital asset capabilities embedded in their existing treasury and payment platforms. They need the same approval hierarchies, audit trails, and user access rights as they use for fiat.
We have to “meet the team where they work.” Our objective is to streamline administrative workflows for both fiat and digital asset transfers, ensuring that approval hierarchies, transaction tracking, and comprehensive audit trails are fully integrated into a unified treasury framework.
An increasingly critical focus involves corporate investment policies. Most existing governance structures were established before the emergence of digital assets. The conversation about regulatory clarity, particularly regarding stablecoins, has shifted toward modernizing these foundational documents.
GF: How should treasury teams prepare for digital assets and tokenized money?
Johnson: Start with visibility. You can’t manage governance if you can’t see your holdings. Consolidate all digital balances into a single system alongside your fiat accounts. Second, focus on pilots. Don’t try to change everything at once. Identify specific pain points, such as cross-border movement costs or trapped cash, and run a pilot to demonstrate value. This builds the buy-in needed to tackle more complex use cases later.
GF: How do you decide which payment rail to use?
Johnson: It’s about optionality. There is value in direct bank connections, the SWIFT network, and digital asset rails. We act as a routing engine. If a client prioritizes speed, cost, or regulatory reliability, our platform evaluates the transaction and routes it along the optimal path. It’s not about choosing one rail; it’s about providing the plumbing that supports them all.
