RLUSD will be available “globally” to institutions and users, Ripple says.
Ripple appointed an advisory board with experts to launch RLUSD to the market.
Ripple announced this Tuesday, October 15, that its stablecoin, RLUSD, will be available globally to institutions and users through seven bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges, as part of a strategic partnership.
Platforms partnering with Ripple to list RLUSD include Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA, and Bullish.
These exchanges, although not the largest in terms of trading volume, represent a significant step for RLUSD distribution.
Bitstamp, for example, ranks as the 17th largest exchange by trading volume, with $259 million in a single day, while Bitso is in 60th place, with $54 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
In addition to exchanges, major market makers such as B2C2 and Keyrock will support RLUSD liquidity, which could drive broader adoption in global markets, they say from Ripple Labs.
RLUSD, or Ripple USD, is a stablecoin that is expected to be issued towards the end of the year, although the exact date is still unclear. This announcement suggests an imminent launch of the product. In fact, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, recently mentioned that the launch was “weeks, not months” away, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
Furthermore, testing of the Ripple stablecoin began in August 2024, as reported by CriptoNoticias. This testing process has been carried out on both the XRP Ledger network and the Ethereum network, marking another step towards its official launch.
A “powerful board”
In addition to the agreements with the exchanges, Ripple also appointed a “powerful advisory board” for the official launch of RLUSD, including figures such as Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC; David Puth, former CEO of the CENTER Consortium and Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple.
“With our initial exchange partners, the clear utility and demand for RLUSD, and a strong focus on regulatory compliance, the Ripple stablecoin is poised to become the gold standard for enterprise-grade stablecoins,” said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple.
Garlinghouse highlighted the demand for high-quality stablecoins, such as, in his opinion, RLUSD, explaining that “customers and partners have been asking for stablecoins to use in various financial use cases, such as payments, tokenization of real-world assets, and decentralized finance. ”. It is worth clarifying that these functions are already efficiently fulfilled by other stablecoins on the market.
According to plans, Ripple plans to integrate RLUSD along with XRP and other digital assets into its payment solutions to facilitate cross-border transactions that are faster, more reliable and cost-effective, according to what the company’s CEO said.
RLUSD will be issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains, backed by a segregated reserve of cash and cash equivalents, redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.
This stablecoin is designed to combine the stability of the dollar with the efficiency of decentralized technology, offering an alternative for instant payments, on- and off-ramps, and asset tokenization.
The stablecoin market is already dominated by giants such as USDT (Tether) and USDC (USD Coin), both with significant market capitalization and adoption. Ripple’s RLUSD has the ambition to compete with these, offering a stablecoin backed by a robust business and regulatory approachwhich could attract more institutions and users looking for a more regulated alternative.
