By Buchanan Maldonado
When a publicly traded insurance-and-fintech company quietly expands its corporate treasury beyond cash, bonds, and short-term instruments into a volatile crypto asset, it’s not just a headline—it’s a disclosure with consequences.
In late September 2025, Reliance Global Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: RELI) reported that it had purchased XRP as part of what it calls a Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) initiative. The disclosure wasn’t rumor or “sources familiar”—it was spelled out in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which also attached the company’s XRP press release as an exhibit.
The paper trail: what Reliance actually said
Reliance’s own press release frames XRP as an “enterprise-grade” asset tied to cross-border payment use cases, emphasizing speed, scalability, and energy efficiency, and describing the purchase as a “measured step” in a broader, diversified treasury approach that already included Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano.
Critically, the SEC filing confirms the company issued a press release about the XRP purchase and furnished it under Regulation FD.
That matters because it places the decision in the realm of public-company governance, disclosure expectations, and shareholder scrutiny, not just crypto enthusiasm.
Reliance’s bigger bet isn’t only XRP—it’s a blockchain thesis for insurance
Two weeks before the XRP announcement, Reliance said its board approved a strategic expansion into cryptocurrency and “blockchain-enabled insurance-linked assets,” including a plan to purchase up to $120 million in digital assets in phases, managed by a newly formed crypto advisory board.
That “insurance-linked assets” phrasing is the tell.
Insurance-linked securities (ILS) and similar structures are historically specialized and institution-heavy. Reliance is signaling it wants optionality: if tokenization and blockchain rails reduce friction in issuance, settlement, distribution, or collateralization, a firm already sitting on an insurtech platform may see a strategic opening. Reliance explicitly connects its crypto strategy to its insurtech distribution and technology platforms.
Why XRP, specifically?
Reliance’s own rationale tracks the XRP Ledger’s reputation for fast settlement and low transaction costs. XRPL documentation describes near real-time settlement on the order of seconds.
From a corporate-treasury perspective, the pitch is straightforward:
Utility narrative: XRP has long been marketed as a bridge asset for cross-border settlement and liquidity.
Network narrative: XRPL is positioned as payment-focused infrastructure rather than a generalized smart-contract chain.
Optics narrative: “We’re not gambling; we’re aligning with ‘real-world utility.’” (Reliance uses language like this explicitly.)
But the sharper question isn’t whether XRP can move quickly on-chain. It’s whether Reliance can translate that into business advantage—or whether this is primarily a capital-allocation story aimed at investors.
The regulatory backdrop changed—materially
Any U.S. company touching XRP is doing it under a regulatory shadow that has been among crypto’s most consequential.
In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres issued a widely cited summary judgment decision in the SEC’s case against Ripple, holding—among other things—that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on exchanges did not constitute the offer and sale of investment contracts under the court’s Howey analysis.
By 2025, the arc bent toward closure. Reuters reported in August 2025 that the SEC ended the case, with Ripple paying a $125 million penalty and the parties dismissing appeals—ending one of the most closely watched crypto enforcement fights.
The SEC also published materials in May 2025 describing a settlement framework.
For a public company’s board and auditors, this matters because “XRP exposure” looks different when the highest-profile U.S. enforcement action tied to XRP has moved into a resolved, post-appeal posture—even if legal and compliance risk never fully disappears.
The corporate treasury angle: what shareholders should watch
Reliance frames XRP as part of a disciplined treasury initiative.
The investigative lens asks: disciplined compared to what?
Here are the practical pressure points investors and analysts will likely scrutinize:
1. Risk controls and custody Reliance mentions “secure custody” and governance, but shareholders will look for specifics over time: custody provider risk, internal controls, key management, impairment policies, and board oversight.
2. Balance-sheet volatility Crypto assets can introduce earnings noise and impairment dynamics. Even a “measured” allocation can distort results for a smaller company.
3. Strategic coherence If this becomes merely “a crypto treasury company that also sells insurance,” markets will price it differently than an insurance distributor experimenting with blockchain rails.
4. Use-case reality vs. narrative There’s a meaningful difference between holding XRP and using XRP-linked rails in production workflows. One is capital allocation; the other is operational transformation.
The most important unanswered question
Reliance has now said it wants exposure to crypto and is exploring tokenization of insurance-linked assets.
But the disclosures leave the central investigative question open:
Is XRP intended to become a treasury holding only—or a functional piece of a future insurance/claims/payments stack?
Today, the public record supports treasury accumulation (they bought XRP).
The rest—tokenized insurance-linked assets, integrations with platforms, operational efficiencies—remains forward-looking ambition.
What this signals for the XRP ecosystem
Whether you’re bullish or skeptical, Reliance’s move is notable for one reason: it’s a non-crypto, insurance-adjacent public company explicitly placing XRP inside a corporate strategy narrative, at a time when the Ripple-SEC saga has largely moved out of limbo.
That doesn’t “validate” XRP as a payment rail across global finance overnight. But it does reinforce a trend: crypto assets are being framed not only as speculative instruments, but as corporate treasury components and optionality bets—especially when boards believe regulatory uncertainty has reduced enough to act.
Join the Conversation—and Protect What Matters Most
Reliance Global Group’s move into the XRP ecosystem raises important questions about how insurance, finance, and digital assets may converge in the years ahead. Is this the beginning of broader blockchain adoption in insurance, or simply a treasury-level bet on emerging financial infrastructure? The implications extend far beyond one company—and they deserve thoughtful discussion.
I invite readers to share their perspectives below. Do you see digital assets like XRP playing a meaningful role in insurance, payments, or risk management? Where do you think regulation, innovation, and consumer protection intersect next? Your insights add value to the conversation, and thoughtful debate is how industries evolve.
And if this discussion prompts questions closer to home—about protecting your greatest assets, whether that’s your home, business, vehicles, or investments—professional guidance matters. Choosing a reliable insurance carrier in a complex and changing market isn’t something most people should navigate alone.
If you’d like personalized advice, you can call or email me directly, or start a customized quote at
👉 Quote.BuchananMaldonado.com
Having access to multiple top-rated carriers nationwide allows me to help clients make informed decisions—not just on price, but on long-term protection and stability.
Buchanan Maldonado 