Ripple President Monica Long recently appeared on Bloomberg to discuss the launch of their new stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), which is pegged at a 1-to-1 ratio with the U.S. dollar. Long emphasized that RLUSD is designed to facilitate payments, particularly enhancing Ripple’s focus on enabling faster, more cost-effective, and 24/7 cross-border transactions. She clarified that RLUSD is not a competitor to XRP but rather complements it. XRP continues to serve as a native token on the XRP Ledger, useful for transaction fees and as a bridge asset for trading other tokens on the platform.
Addressing concerns about competition between RLUSD and XRP, Long stated that both assets play different but supportive roles. While XRP is integral for transactions on its blockchain, RLUSD caters to the growing demand for stable, dollar-pegged tokens within Ripple’s customer base, which has facilitated over $70 billion in cross-border transactions. She highlighted the significant role of stablecoins in providing an effective means for payments, noting their use in both on-ramping and off-ramping between traditional finance and blockchain systems.
Long also touched on the broader stablecoin market, which is currently valued at over $150 billion and is expected to grow to over $3 trillion in the coming years. She underscored the importance of having compliant and reliable stablecoins, pointing out that RLUSD is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, known for its stringent regulatory framework. This makes RLUSD particularly attractive to regulated financial institutions for on-ramping and off-ramping activities.
When questioned about the availability of RLUSD on major exchanges, Long revealed that while it’s currently listed on platforms like Bitso, MoonPay, and CoinMina with more like Bullish and Mercado Bitcoin expected soon, further expansion to larger platforms like Coinbase is “imminent.”
Regarding the adoption of RLUSD, Long expressed optimism, citing the overall growth in the crypto market and Ripple’s own expansion in payment solutions. She anticipates a significant demand increase for stablecoins like RLUSD, especially with Ripple’s payment business doubling last year, indicating a promising growth trajectory for RLUSD.
On the topic of cryptocurrency ETFs, Long was notably bullish about the prospects of an XRP spot ETF. She believes that one could be approved “very soon,” positioning XRP potentially as the next in line after Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, especially with changes in the U.S. administration that could accelerate such approvals.
In her final remarks, Long delineated the use cases for both RLUSD and XRP. RLUSD is seen as filling a niche for institutional demand, particularly among Ripple’s clients in regulated payment services, banks, and through Ripple Custody for tokenized asset services. Meanwhile, as the crypto market grows, she envisions a rising retail demand for dollar stablecoins in trading, alongside the established role of XRP in the ecosystem.
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