Ripple has officially joined Water.org’s “Get Blue” campaign as its exclusive digital asset and payments partner. The fintech company announced the deal on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, aiming to bridge the financial gap in the global water crisis.
By utilizing its USD-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, Ripple intends to move charitable funds faster and at a lower cost to emerging markets. This partnership supports Water.org’s objective to reach 200 million people with safe water and sanitation by 2030.
Co-founded by actor Matt Damon and engineer Gary White, Water.org has already provided over 85 million people with water access through its WaterCredit model. However, the organization notes that more than 2 billion people still lack safe water at home.
Ripple’s entry into the “Get Blue” coalition adds a layer of modern payment infrastructure to a group that includes founding partners like Amazon, Starbucks, Gap Inc., and Ecolab. AccuWeather and TikTok are also listed as supporters of the initiative.
The technical implementation relies on the Ripple Payments platform and the RLUSD stablecoin, which will settle transactions in minutes rather than days. This efficiency is critical for moving capital to microfinance partners in developing countries. Earlier pilots conducted by Water.
org in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru already demonstrated the feasibility of using Ripple for cross-border transfers. As a result, the organization plans to route all its Latin American transactions through Ripple while exploring expansions into Africa and Asia.
Using RLUSD for global microfinance and sanitation
Ripple will provide seed funding as part of the partnership to help move charitable funds to local microfinance partners. RLUSD, the stablecoin at the heart of this operation, was launched on December 17, 2024, after receiving approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
It maintains a 1:1 peg to the US dollar and is backed by a segregated reserve of cash and government bonds. The move highlights the growing utility of digital assets in real-world humanitarian efforts.
The “Get Blue” campaign relies heavily on the WaterCredit model, which provides small loans to families so they can finance their own water and sanitation solutions. By reducing transfer fees and settlement times, Ripple ensures that more donor capital remains available for these loans.
This institutional adoption of stablecoins for non-profit disbursement is a shift away from high-fee traditional banking corridors. Some observers believe such utility could lead to new liquidity surges in the underlying XRP Ledger ecosystem.
Matt Damon noted during the rollout that music and media can connect people across borders, but delivering resources requires robust infrastructure. Consumer-facing activations for the “Get Blue” campaign are scheduled to launch in the summer of 2026. These activations will invite the public to participate in the coalition’s mission to close the global sanitation gap.
The initiative was originally debuted at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026.
Philanthropic track record and stablecoin adoption
This is not the first time Ripple has used its digital infrastructure for social causes. In September 2025, Ripple donated $15 million in RLUSD to the Accion Opportunity Fund to support underserved American entrepreneurs. The company also recently committed $25 million in cryptocurrency donations to educational organizations like Teach For America and DonorsChoose.
These actions represent a broader strategy to position RLUSD as a reliable medium for institutional and philanthropic transfers.
RLUSD is issued natively on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains, providing a high degree of transparency for donors. Because the stablecoin is fully redeemable for US dollars and meets NYDFS standards, it provides the compliance required by global NGOs.
This level of oversight is essential as organizations look for alternatives to the traditional SWIFT network, which can be slow and expensive in emerging markets. For those tracking XRP value projections, this expanding role in global finance is a key metric.
Water.org and the “Get Blue” coalition face an annual funding gap of approximately $114 billion to achieve universal water access. Ripple’s role is to streamline the logistics of how that money moves. By removing the “friction” associated with traditional cross-border payments, the partnership seeks to maximize the impact of every dollar donated.
The results of the upcoming summer activations will provide the first major look at the campaign’s success at the grassroots level.