Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, launched nearly two years ago, still trails industry leaders Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, yet its growth trajectory is accelerating. According to Token Terminal data, RLUSD’s circulating supply has reached $2.4 billion, marking an increase of more than 50% over the past month. Of that total, approximately $1 billion resides on the XRP Ledger, while $1.4 billion sits on Ethereum.
Utility and Daily Activity Trump Market Cap
Ripple emphasizes real-world usage over headline market capitalization. “What’s more exciting to us is the utility and the daily activity,” McDonald said. He noted that RLUSD’s daily activity has more than tripled since the beginning of the year, climbing to roughly $750 million a day last month from about $200 million.
Payments and Capital Markets Drive Adoption
Two primary verticals are fueling RLUSD adoption: payments and capital markets.
- Payments: Ripple has made RLUSD the primary stablecoin in its payments business.
- Capital markets: The token serves as the cash leg for transactions, settlement, and collateral.
Ripple has partnered with firms including Franklin Templeton and DBS around tokenized money-market funds and lending. Additionally, RLUSD can be posted as collateral through Ripple Prime, the institutional brokerage business formed from the Hidden Road acquisition.
Integrated Strategy: Stablecoins Meet Custody, Trading, and Prime Brokerage
This approach reflects Ripple’s broader push to combine stablecoins with custody, trading, payments, and prime brokerage rather than operate RLUSD as a standalone product.
