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BTC $96,420 +2.34% ETH $3,280 +1.82% SOL $185.40 -0.92% BNB $642.50 +0.45% XRP $2.18 +3.12% DOGE $0.082 -1.50% ADA $1.05 +0.80% AVAX $42.10 +1.15%
BTC $96,420 +2.34% ETH $3,280 +1.82% SOL $185.40 -0.92% BNB $642.50 +0.45% XRP $2.18 +3.12% DOGE $0.082 -1.50% ADA $1.05 +0.80% AVAX $42.10 +1.15%
08/08/2024

Ripple Begins Mainnet Testing of RLUSD Stablecoin

Ripple believes the total stablecoin market will hit $2 trillion by 2028 as demand for low-volatility fiat-pegged tokens continues to grow. On August 9, Ripple Labs announced the first mainnet pilot of its US dollar-pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum, with plans to expand the fiat-backed token to additional blockchain networks in the future. According to Ripple Labs, the upcoming stablecoin will be fully backed by

Ripple Begins Mainnet Testing of RLUSD Stablecoin

Ripple believes the total stablecoin market will hit $2 trillion by 2028 as demand for low-volatility fiat-pegged tokens continues to grow.

On August 9, Ripple Labs announced the first mainnet pilot of its US dollar-pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum, with plans to expand the fiat-backed token to additional blockchain networks in the future.

According to Ripple Labs, the upcoming stablecoin will be fully collateralized, meaning each unit of RLUSD is backed 1:1 by USD reserves or short-term cash equivalents held at banks. To ensure transparency and accountability, Ripple has also committed to conducting third-party audits of the underlying cash assets and publishing monthly reserve reports.

The crypto company also reaffirmed its commitment to using both XRP and RLUSD to serve the market, pushing back against rumors that it would abandon XRP in favor of its new stablecoin.

XRPL contract addresses for the stablecoin pilot. Source: Ripple Labs

In the announcement, Ripple Labs emphasized that the stablecoin is currently in beta testing with enterprise partners and warned users about scammers claiming to sell or offer early access to RLUSD, which is not currently available for purchase or direct trading.

Ripple Hit With $125M Fine in SEC Lawsuit

The RLUSD mainnet tests followed an August 7 ruling by Judge Analisa Torres imposing a $125 million penalty on Ripple Labs in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, which was first filed in 2020.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse hailed the penalty as a "win" against the SEC, which had asked the court to impose fines of up to $2 billion on Ripple Labs for the securities violations it alleged.

Source: Brad Garlinghouse

Unsurprisingly, XRP's price reacted positively to the news, surging 26% to reach a high of $0.64 on the same day the ruling was announced.

XRP Ledger Sees Sharp Drop in Transaction Volume

Despite the positive developments for Ripple, XRPL experienced a 65.6% decline in transaction volume in Q2 2024, according to Ripple Labs' XRP Markets Report Q2 2024.

Ripple's report showed a steep drop from 251,397,881 transactions in Q1 to just 88,388,029 in Q2, accompanied by a significant increase in average transaction fees on the ledger.