Ripple USD

Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD has surpassed the $2 billion milestone, drawing continued attention across the crypto ecosystem. The issuer confirmed the achievement, which comes amid heightened buzz around XRP. This marks a significant growth for the stablecoin since its launch, reflecting increasing adoption and market confidence in Ripple's digital asset offerings.

Ripple, Clearpool, and Cicada Partners announced on August 20 that they will develop a credit infrastructure on the XRPL to connect institutional investor capital to corporate lending. The initiative targets companies that use stablecoins for working capital, including fintech firms, payment companies, and crypto asset service providers, and will use RLUSD as the asset for loan origination and repayment. Clearpool will build the credit infrastructure using the Lending Protocol and Single Asset Vault proposed as native XRPL features, while Cicada Partners will handle loan origination, management, and credit assessment. Ripple will contribute capital as a limited partner alongside other institutional investors. In a joint statement, the three companies noted that an estimated 98 percent of DeFi yields are generated from activities within the crypto asset market, such as looping, arbitrage, basis trading, points programs, and liquidity mining, and said they aim to reduce reliance on these by linking yields to credit based on the real economy.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized the regulatory approach to crypto assets taken by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under its previous leadership, speaking on August 20 at the inaugural meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's innovation advisory committee. Garlinghouse condemned the former SEC's stance of bringing companies to heel through lawsuits and other means rather than providing clear rules, and called for clearer regulation. He said the company spent about 150 million dollars on its court battle with the SEC, and that roughly 80 percent of Ripple's hiring during the nearly four-year fight took place outside the United States. The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC began in December 2020 and ended in August 2025 when both sides withdrew their appeals.

Ripple Prime closed an upsized $275 million private placement of senior unsecured notes on August 18, rated BBB by KBRA, maturing in 2031 with an 8.25% coupon. The notes were issued through Ripple's prime brokerage arm, with Piper Sandler leading the placement, and proceeds will fund working capital and general corporate purposes including expanding US clearing, prime brokerage, and financing. Ripple Prime plans to launch two new business lines: Delta1, covering total return swaps and synthetic equity financing for leveraged ETF firms, and equity prime brokerage for hedge funds. The firm's BBB rating uniquely lets pension funds and insurers trade without credit exceptions, an edge no other crypto-affiliated prime broker currently holds. Ripple Prime tripled revenue year over year, doubled client collateral, and turned profitable in 2025, but still pays about 3 percentage points above average BBB borrowers.

Ripple announced on August 18 via its official X account that it has partnered with JB Jeonbuk Bank in South Korea, which will adopt the international remittance solution Ripple Payments. This marks the first adoption of the service by a Korean regional bank. Traditional international remittances can take several days because they pass through multiple intermediary banks via the SWIFT network, but Ripple Payments can process settlements in seconds to minutes. Jeonbuk Bank will offer faster, more transparent, and lower-cost international remittance services to import and export companies, IT startups, and online content creators. Ripple has been steadily expanding partnerships with Korean financial institutions in 2026, including a collaboration with Kyobo Life Insurance on on-chain settlement of government bonds, and providing an institutional wallet foundation to the internet-only bank Kbank through Ripple Custody.

Ripple is rapidly shifting its RLUSD stablecoin supply from the XRP Ledger to Ethereum, with Ethereum's share approaching an internal record. Fresh capital flows are now moving to Ethereum, challenging the XRP Ledger's monopoly on hosting Ripple's main dollar-denominated asset. The development raises questions about whether XRP, the ecosystem's 'North Star', is taking a back seat.

Ripple's ten major institutional deals in the first half of 2026 all settled in its RLUSD stablecoin rather than XRP, as price volatility blocks compliance approval on large trades. RLUSD has more than doubled in a year to $1.57 billion and now holds 89% of the XRP Ledger's stablecoin market, with BlackRock, Deutsche Bank, and Mastercard all choosing it over XRP. XRP still handles thin corridors stablecoins cannot serve, like SBI Remit's $2 billion a year from Japan into Southeast Asia, where large stablecoin transfers bleed money on slippage. Stablecoins have passed $250 billion in circulation and moved $27.6 trillion in 2024, more than Visa and Mastercard combined, while an EY survey found only 13% of corporate treasuries currently use stablecoins but more than half of non-users expect to adopt them within six to twelve months. XRP trades near $1.02, down 46% this year, and the only thing left that would change its position is Ripple settling its own deals in the token, which needs deep liquidity and a stable price that neither looks close.

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on August 11 a policy to support crypto asset firms entering banking. Acting Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould noted that for more than a decade regulators had effectively signaled to businesses seeking federal bank charters or federal deposit insurance that they need not apply, and said that companies conducting legally permitted activities, including digital assets and new technologies, should be offered a path to become national banks, indicating a shift from the previous stance. According to the OCC, new bank charter applications averaged fewer than four per year from 2011 to 2014, with some years seeing none at all, while over the past 18 months it has received 40 new applications, including national trust banks, showing that new entry activity is picking up again. In December 2025, the OCC conditionally approved the establishment of Ripple National Trust Bank and First National Digital Currency Bank, and also conditionally approved the conversion of BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos into national trust banks.

On June 24, Japan's Financial Services Agency approved the operation of Ripple's dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD under Japan's regulatory framework. It is the first foreign-issued dollar stablecoin to pass Japan's equivalence review and will be offered to both institutional and individual investors through SBI. RLUSD launched in Japan on Ethereum, but the majority of circulating RLUSD, roughly 51%, is already on the XRP Ledger, where the deepest market is the XRP-denominated pair. On the XRP Ledger this spring, monthly settlement volume for dollar stablecoins surpassed 5 billion dollars, roughly 75 times the level 18 months ago. Japan's approval signals that regulated dollars are beginning to function on-chain and could lead to a transformation of cross-border payment infrastructure.

Ripple minted $133.3 million in RLUSD on the XRP Ledger on August 3, according to data from the Ripple stablecoin tracker website. The minting represents a significant ramp-up in the supply of Ripple's stablecoin amid a surge in demand. The RLUSD stablecoin is pegged to the US dollar and operates on the XRP Ledger. The data was reported by the Ripple stablecoin tracker, which monitors on-chain activity for the asset.

Ripple announced on August 3 strategic investments in Zilo, which provides a transfer agency platform for asset management companies, and Liquid, which offers an asset tokenization and trading platform. The investments in both companies will add regulatory-compliant transfer agency, token issuance, and collateral mobility capabilities to Ripple's institutional-grade infrastructure. Zilo delivers global technology for transfer agency and recordkeeping to asset managers and custodians, while Liquid provides a platform that gives traditional financial assets, such as investment fund units, the same liquidity and utility as digital assets. Ripple's infrastructure offers end-to-end capabilities from asset issuance and custody to collateral utilization and instant settlement, using its own stablecoin RLUSD for settlement. Tokenized funds can be used as collateral from the moment of issuance, and transactions are settled instantly on the XRP Ledger. This investment is part of Ripple's broader effort to bring traditional financial assets on-chain, following its partnership with UK asset manager Aviva Investors to tokenize conventional fund structures on the XRP Ledger.

Bithumb, South Korea's second-largest exchange, has officially launched spot trading for Ripple's regulated stablecoin, Ripple USD, against the Korean won. The listing introduces RLUSD to the Korean market with a price discount, raising questions about potential trader profits or losses. This move strengthens the infrastructure for Ripple ecosystem assets in the country.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has once again thrown his support behind the push to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. He urged Congress to pass the legislation, which aims to provide regulatory clarity for digital assets. Garlinghouse has been a vocal advocate for clearer rules in the cryptocurrency industry. The act is seen as a key step toward defining how digital assets are classified and regulated in the United States.

Ripple Prime now processes more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume for over 300 institutional clients, according to International CEO Michael Higgins. Revenue has tripled year over year since Ripple acquired Hidden Road in October 2025 for $1.25 billion and rebranded it as Ripple Prime. Higgins stated that even in a crypto winter, the business continues to thrive as institutions employ more sophisticated, less speculative approaches to digital assets. He also highlighted that stablecoins like RLUSD are being used to solve weekend liquidity problems, with some derivatives clients already holding balances in RLUSD. Ripple Prime has begun migrating parts of its operations to the XRP Ledger, though the transition is still in early stages, with significant cost savings expected as transaction volumes grow.

Binance has launched a new campaign offering an $800,000 prize pool in XRP tokens, drawing attention from holders of the Ripple USD stablecoin. Strict regulatory filters and technical requirements significantly narrow the pool of potential participants. The campaign requires users to complete identity verification and reside in eligible jurisdictions, excluding many regions due to local regulations. Participants must also hold RLUSD and meet specific trading or holding criteria during the promotion period. The initiative underscores Binance's efforts to engage stablecoin users while navigating complex global compliance obligations.

Ripple has launched a $250,000 grant program to support US businesses owned by military veterans and their spouses. The initiative is funded through Ripple's highly regulated RLUSD stablecoin, which is seeing adoption beyond payments. The program aims to provide financial assistance to veteran entrepreneurs.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has publicly reacted to the company securing a historic five-year sponsorship agreement with the University of Kansas. The deal marks a significant sports partnership for the blockchain firm. Garlinghouse shared his thoughts on social media following the announcement. Further details of the agreement were not immediately disclosed.

Ripple President Monica Long shared a vision for the future of digital payments, stating that the future of payments will be multichain, interoperable, and built on institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure.

Ripple has received preliminary approval from Luxembourg's Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier for a Crypto Asset Service Provider license under the EU's MiCA regulation. Combined with a recently secured Electronic Money Institution license, Ripple can now offer its services, including the XRP Ledger and its stablecoin RLUSD, across all 30 European Economic Area countries. The approval comes just before a July 1 deadline that is expected to shrink the number of compliant crypto operators from over 1,200 to around 210, positioning Ripple as one of the largest remaining competitors. With Tether's USDT shut out of regulated EU venues, RLUSD has an opportunity to capture market share, potentially generating fees for the XRP Ledger and attracting capital. However, any value accrual to XRP token holders is expected to be modest and slow, as XRP is used only for small per-transaction fee burns and account reserves on the ledger.

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin now has a larger circulating supply on the XRP Ledger than on Ethereum. The shift marks a milestone for the XRP Ledger as Ripple expands its stablecoin presence, with plans to introduce RLUSD in Japan. The company is working with local partners to launch the stablecoin in the Japanese market, aiming to leverage the country’s progressive regulatory framework for digital assets. The move underscores Ripple’s strategy to grow RLUSD adoption beyond its initial deployments.

Mike Higgins, International CEO of Ripple Prime, teased upcoming developments for XRP and the RLUSD stablecoin during the Ripple Quarterly Webinar hosted by Token Relations on Monday, June 22. Higgins discussed how RLUSD fits into the company's broader institutional strategy and its role within the Prime ecosystem. He emphasized that there is much more to come from Ripple in the digital asset space.

Ripple has received preliminary approval of its CASP license. Cassie Craddock, UK CEO and Managing Director for the UK and Europe, reacted to this regulatory milestone by stating that the next wave of institutional adoption is here.

Blockchain payments company Ripple has secured preliminary regulatory approval to expand its services across the European Union. The approval marks a significant step under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, allowing Ripple to offer its cross-border payment solutions more broadly within the bloc. Further details on the specific regulator or timeline were not immediately disclosed.

Hollywood actor Matt Damon is slated to appear at the upcoming Ripple Swell conference. The event is scheduled for October 27 through 29 in New York, marking the second consecutive year it will be held in the city.