Let alone anyone in crypto looking to determine the end of this bull cycle.
While most attention is on the price performance of BTC and major altcoins, people often disregard important stablecoin trends and statistics.
In this case, I am focusing on a hypothetical milestone involving Ripple USD (RLUSD). Launched in December, it is the first stablecoin released on the XRP Ledger, and I think it was long overdue.
What am I referring to?
When RLUSD’s market cap matches, or comes within a billion dollars of reaching USDC, the second-largest stablecoin behind Tether USD, a.k.a. USDT.
Wishful thinking, but hear me out.
Here is where all three digital assets stand:
– USDT: $147 billion market cap
– USDC: $62 billion
– RLUSD: $317 million
Even though RLUSD is a drop in the bucket compared to its competitors, it’s heading in the right direction.
I expect this new stablecoin to close the gap once we see more publicity around XRP and Ripple, notably with the token’s pending spot and futures ETFs, and the latter’s eventual IPO.
There have been interesting developments recently.
The company offered to acquire Circle, which manages USDC, for just $5 billion.
Unsurprisingly, this proposal was rejected as Ripple appears to have undervalued Circle. The stablecoin issuer generated $1.68 billion in revenue last year, up from $1.45 billion in 2023, a figure that should steadily grow as stablecoins become prominent worldwide.
There will likely be more offers in future; give it a few months.
Ripple is serious about growing its presence and reputation to modernise global payment infrastructure. In recent years, it has spent billions acquiring multiple fintech companies, including Hidden Road, Standard Custody & Trust Company, and Metaco.
In turn, this will benefit XRP and RLUSD.
Moreover, keep an eye on an overall increase in the stablecoin market cap, which is considered bullish across the space. This means higher market liquidity and more opportunities to rapidly go back and forth between them and cryptocurrencies.
Whale Alert regularly features Tether Treasury minting more than $1 billion updates on its website and X/Twitter page. I expect RLUSD to be featured here in the coming years, assuming a steady increase in Ripple and XRP usage.
Looking at the USDT historical market cap, you will see a correlation between this stablecoin’s circulating MC, the November 2021 local BTC peak and its latest all-time high of around $109,000.
USDT historical market cap, screenshot taken on 28 April 2025. Source: CoinGecko. The author added BTC info using approximate dates.
For those new to the space, stablecoins were a game-changer for many investors. They first hit the scene in July 2014 (BitUSD) but really took off in 2017 with USDT. This appealed to day traders and other investors looking to secure profits in a fiat-backed digital currency.
Before these were available, the only option for BTC was to cash out and make bank transfers, which was costly, time-consuming, and inefficient.
Altcoins were usually paired with BTC, ETH, and sometimes LTC or XRP.
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So, how does RLUSD benefit XRP holders? XRP covers the transaction fee when someone sends the stablecoin, as is the case for other assets operating on this ledger.
Approximately 10 drops (0.00001 XRP) are burned per transaction, but this can increase during periods of high network activity.
With ~13.8 million XRP permanently removed from circulation through this mechanism, many will point out that this is nothing when looking at the bigger picture, representing roughly 0.014% of the ~99.98 billion XRP total supply.
However, it ignores that this token will experience a massive increase in adoption in the coming years, particularly with the advent of RLUSD last December, Ripple’s growing presence and XRP’s impressive price performance (up 330% over the past year, including 190% gains versus BTC).
Thus, a massive growth in network transactions and unique addresses will also increase token demand, as a 10 XRP reserve is required per account, plus a minimum of 2 XRP per item owned in the ledger, even when establishing a trust line when receiving XRP, RLUSD or other assets using the XRPL blockchain.
These minimum amounts will likely decrease (once again) as more individuals create new accounts and assets on the network.
Partnerships summary
– Aave x RLUSD: Aave, a major decentralised automated market maker, announced earlier this month that it will offer RLUSD lending and borrowing via the Aave V3 Ethereum Core market.
– While initially launching on a handful of exchanges such as Bitstamp, Bitso, CoinMENA, and Uphold, Kraken’s April 2 blog post mentioned RLUSD as the latest stablecoin available for trading.
I look forward to other major exchanges such as Binance, Bybit or KuCoin listing it. I don’t see Coinbase listing it anytime soon, particularly as it has a vested interest in USDC.
– Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is “actively talking” with RLUSD representatives for a potential partnership.
In February 2025, Ripple added Revolut and Zero Hash to its partnership list to boost accessibility to its RLUSD stablecoin.
– In recent years, especially since XRP’s price pump from around $0.50 to $2, marking a new resistance level, there have been plenty of rumours about the SWIFT payment systems adopting XRP. Nonetheless, this remains hearsay.
Mind you, if it wants to remain relevant, SWIFT would be foolish not to embrace blockchain technology and a reliable network such as (but not limited to) XRP Ledger.
Additional thoughts
Some will say, “What’s the point in another USD-backed stablecoin when we already have USDT, USDC, and other established options such as USDS (formerly DAI), FDUSD, PayPal’s PYUSD, and Ethena USDe (USDe*)?”
*Strictly speaking, USDe is a synthetic dollar, not a stablecoin, as explained here.
I say it makes sense to have a native stablecoin on the XRP Ledger.
Why?
– Ripple focuses on gross payment settlement systems and other fintech solutions. Its product suite is designed to provide an ultra-fast and cheap alternative to traditional options, so it’s a no-brainer.
– From a retail perspective, having more reliable competition in this space is best. I get that RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, LLC (SCTC), a company fully owned by Ripple, another centralised entity, alongside Tether and Circle.
However, I’d still prefer alternatives to the USDT-USDC duopoly, which controls over 85% of the total stablecoins market cap. Tether alone represents over 60% of the $242 billion circulating MC.
– It boosts utility for the XRP token, benefiting its holders, as discussed earlier.
As more DeFi protocols, centralised and decentralised exchanges start listing RLUSD, this should further boost XRP uptake, accelerating the token burn rate.
Even then, XRP holders should focus on significantly boosting adoption rather than relying on a token burn.
The Ripple IPO and ETF narratives should help propel the token in the coming months and years, assuming these have not yet been priced in, which I don’t believe they have.
RLUSD market cap. Screenshot taken on 28 April 2025. Source: CoinGecko.
However, in addition to the existing stablecoins, more competition is expected to hit the market in the coming months and years.
Two renowned examples are the recent launch of the World Liberty Financial stablecoin, USD1 (and its connection to the Trump Family), and Stripe’s announcement of creating a new stablecoin.
As long as XRP remains a top-five crypto and Ripple continues to grow, RLUSD should gradually close the gap on its rivals.
Even though I will always prefer Bitcoin (BTC) over XRP, there’s enough support for the latter and its use cases to justify investing in it, despite being far less decentralised than the flagship crypto.
Will RLUSD take off in the coming 12-15 months, or is it overhyped and pointless? Comment below.
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You might also be interested in these stories:
https://medium.com/@cryptowithlorenzo/bitcoin-is-going-to-zero-5562122f5481
https://cryptowithlorenzo.medium.com/why-we-shouldnt-be-investing-in-crypto-6ea5bc7de737
Disclaimers
- This blog post is for informational purposes only. It is not financial, legal, or investment advice. You are ultimately responsible for your decisions.
- My opinions in this piece may not reflect those of any news outlet, person, organisation, or entity listed here.
- Please do your own research before investing in any cryptocurrency assets, staking, NFTs, or other products associated with this space.• XRP makes up about 20% of my crypto portfolio.
Featured image by Color4260 at Shutterstock.
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