Ripple’s RLUSD targets the European market and is emerging as an alternative to USDT
On December 17, Ripple launched its stablecoin anchored to the dollar: ripple USD (RLUSD), which already aims to enter the competition for the European Union (EU) market.
The stablecoin has already begun to be added to the platforms in the region, after its inclusion in the MoonPay listwhich operates from Estonia. It was also listed by Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp.
Such as Bitstamp reports on its official blog, as of January 8, RLUSD is already on the platform. The stablecoin is active on the Ethereum and XRP Ledger networks and can be traded on this platform against six major pairs: USD, EUR, BTC, ETH, XRP and USDT.
RLUSD has not yet received the approval required by the Regulation for the Cryptoasset Market (MiCA) that came into effect on December 30 in the European Union. However, it is known, according to statements from Ripple officials, that the company is “in the process of applying for licenses” that are granted in the EU under the new regulation.
The new stablecoin is thus expected to compete with stablecoins in the EU market, currently dominated by Circle’s USDC after the non-compliance announced by USDT of Tether.
It is worth remembering that, although USDT is not yet completely inaccessible in Europe, it has already left platforms such as Coinbase.
However, major exchanges, such as Crypto.com, Kraken, KuCoin, and others, have not completely abandoned USDT. Binance has also not divested the popular stablecoin, but recently signed a partnership with Circle to promote USDC adoption.
This is how USDT is still present in many exchanges, mainly because MiCA is still in a transitional period. However, there is already a drop in its marketing which is expected to increase in the coming months. Over time, the stablecoin will most likely only be available in Europe on decentralized exchanges (DEX).
As CriptoNoticias reported, Tether also recently shelved its EURT stablecoin, as it sees no future for the euro-denominated token under the terms of MiCA. This has given greater space in the market to the USDC stablecoin, which does comply with the Regulation, along with other stablecoins anchored to the euro.
Hence RLUSD is seen as a good alternative to USDT and competition for USDC, according to analysts point out like Maartunn, from Cryptoquant.
Since the end of 2024, the European Union’s Markets for Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations have come into full force, leading to the delisting of Tether stablecoins in Europe. This opens up space for a MiCA-compliant stablecoin, like Ripple’s USD (RLUSD).
Maartunn.
In this scenario, it must be taken into account that Tether continues to look for ways to stay relevant in this marketthrough investing in a Dutch company (Quantoz Payments) that plans to issue MiCA-compatible USD/Euro denominated tokens.
Meanwhile, Maartunn draws attention to the enthusiasm that the Ripple stablecoin is generating.
“Since testing began in June 2024, RLUSD has processed 33,953 transactions on XRP Ledger and 1,690 on Ethereum,” he insists. Therefore, he hopes that the sharp increase in transaction volume continues, and possibly accelerate even more.
An idea shared by Ripple CTO, David Schwartz, who believes that interest in the new stablecoin has a lot to do with FOMO (fear of missing out). In any case, you will have to be careful to the development of the European market in the coming months – under the impact of MiCA – to observe the role played by both RLUSD and the new currency supported by Tether.
