TL;DR
- Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is in beta testing, with a launch pending regulatory approval.
- The team has picked Bitstamp, Bitso, Uphold, and others as exchange partners for the upcoming introduction.
RLUSD’s Progress so Far
Ripple made the headlines in April this year, announcing plans to introduce a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. In the following months, the team revealed that the product’s name will be RLUSD and will be available on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum.
In August 2024, Ripple began beta testing the stablecoin, warning that it will become available for purchasing and trading after receiving necessary regulatory approval.
Last month, the team named numerous well-known entities, including Bitstamp, Bitso, Uphold, Bullish, CoinMENA, Independent Reserve, and MoonPay, as exchange partners of the initiative.
In a recent interview for CNBC, Monica Long (Ripple’s president) provided additional information about RLUSD’s advancement. She claimed the team is “operationally ready” to launch the stablecoin. Nonetheless, the development will happen once it gets the green light from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
“It’s up to them. They are reviewing our trust application. It’s going to be in their hands when they are approving it.”
Long envisioned the market cap of all stablecoins to rise from its current $180 billion to over $3 trillion in the next few years “because there’s going to be more demand drivers like payments.” She also assumed a de-dollarization scenario where future financial products of that type will be increasingly pegged to other fiat currencies such as the euro, yen, and others.
USDT and USDC Lead the Pack
Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose valuation is linked to a specific asset, such as a fiat currency, a commodity (like gold), or occasionally a basket of assets. They aim to facilitate fast and borderless transactions, making them useful for payments, money transfers, and a store of value.
As mentioned above, the total market cap of the niche is currently standing at approximately $180 billion, with Tether (USDT) being the undisputed leader. The stablecoin is pegged to the greenback and is the third-biggest cryptocurrency (trailing behind BTC and ETH), with its capitalization hitting a new all-time high of almost $125 billion today (November 12).
Circle’s USDC comes second. Its current market cap is around $37 billion, far less than the peak of $56 billion observed in June 2022.
The rest of the stablecoins, whose capitalization has crossed the $1 billion milestone, include USDS, DAI, USDE, and FDUSD.
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