Ripple unveiled its website for the highly anticipated launch of its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin.
The stablecoin, first announced in April, offers potential for instant payouts, simple fiat-to-stablecoin conversions, and cross-border applications. RLUSD is designed to track the U.S. dollar one-to-one and will be issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains.
RLUSD will compete in a market dominated by Tether’s USDT, which has a market capitalization of over $114 billion, and Circle’s USD Coin, which has nearly a $34 billion market cap. The increasingly crowded stablecoin market even includes a stablecoin from payments giant PayPal.
“Stablecoins have proved to have a solid product market fit,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “XRP’s blockchain doesn’t offer the speeds like those found on other blockchains like Solana. However, their TPS (transactions per second) are significantly higher than that of Ethereum, which is the primary chain that USDC & USDT operate on.”
Enterprise Grade
Though other coins have a strong head start, Ripple believes there is room for RLUSD in a market expected to hit $2.8 trillion by 2028. The company claims its stablecoin is unique because it’s designed to be “enterprise-grade” from the start—RLUSD was built with financial institutions and business payments in mind.
RLUSD will be fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. government treasuries, and other cash equivalents. Ripple announced its intentions to be fully transparent about the composition of its reserves and stated it would provide monthly statements detailing its assets.
Regulatory Uncertainty
Ripple has also designed its offering with compliance in mind, working to build its portfolio of licenses for the stablecoin. Unfortunately, RLUSD hasn’t received regulatory approval yet, and it’s not unclear when that will occur.
Regulatory uncertainty around crypto and digital assets has been a common theme over the past few years. Lawmakers have promised new crypto regulations will be forthcoming, including rules specifically governing stablecoins.
“Despite a number of legal challenges, Ripple is determined to press on and gain market share in the dominating stablecoin market,” Hugentobler said. “Ripple appears to be doing all the right things, yet they have continued to take flack, debatably for the entire industry. Once the regulatory challenges end, Ripple’s conglomerate and wide-ranging product suite will continue to be a leader in industry innovation and standards.”