Ripple Unveils RLUSD Stablecoin with Exchange Partners

Ripple has announced the launch of its USD-denominated stablecoin, RLUSD. The company has partnered with several global exchanges and platforms to distribute the new digital asset.

RLUSD will be available on Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA and Bullish. 

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, explains the motivation behind the launch: “Customers and partners have been asking for high-quality stablecoins like RLUSD to use across various financial use cases, such as payments, tokenisation of real-world assets, and decentralised finance.”

Market makers B2C2 and Keyrock will support RLUSD's liquidity to drive adoption across markets. Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay Co-founder and CEO, notes: “We're impressed with Ripple's commitment to advancing the stablecoin market and unlocking new, institutional use cases with RLUSD.”

Regulatory Compliance and Advisory Board

Ripple has formed an advisory board for RLUSD, which includes Sheila Bair, former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair; David Puth, Vice Chairman of Partners Capital and former CENTRE Consortium CEO; and Chris Larsen, Ripple Co-founder and Executive Chairman.

RLUSD is issued under a New York Trust Company Charter, subjecting it to regulatory oversight. 

Use Cases and Blockchain Support

Ripple has identified several use cases for RLUSD, including cross-border payments, on/off-ramps for cryptocurrency exchanges and tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA). The stablecoin will be integrated into Ripple's cross-border payments solution alongside XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger.

RLUSD will launch on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains. Each RLUSD token is backed by US dollar deposits, US government bonds and cash equivalents. Ripple has committed to publishing monthly, third-party audited attestations of reserve assets conducted by BPM, an accounting firm.

Daniel Vogel, CEO and Co-founder of Bitso, a Latin American cryptocurrency exchange, highlights the potential benefits: “We believe this new stablecoin will greatly benefit our customers and business clients across Latin America, and we're excited to continue strengthening our partnership with Ripple.”

The launch of RLUSD marks Ripple's entry into the stablecoin market, a sector that has seen growing interest from both traditional finance and the cryptocurrency industry. 

As regulatory scrutiny of stablecoins intensifies, Ripple's approach of combining regulatory compliance with blockchain technology could position RLUSD as a bridge between these two financial worlds.

Cactus Raazi, B2C2's US CEO, emphasises the importance of such stablecoins: “Trusted, regulation-compliant stablecoins are fundamental for building robust, resilient digital assets marketplaces, supporting efficient on- and off-ramping, payments, and asset tokenisation.”

Chris Tyrer, Head of Institutional at Bullish, concludes: “As the convergence of crypto and traditional financial markets continues to accelerate, regulated stablecoins, such as RLUSD, create a trusted pathway for institutions to trade digital assets.”

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