RLUSD Growth Adds Liquidity, But What Does it Mean for XRP Ripple?
The XRP Ripple RLUSD stablecoin has reached roughly $2.4Bn in market capitalization, with stablecoins gaining another source of dollar liquidity for digital-asset markets.
In a September 30 update, Ripple senior vice president of stablecoins Jack McDonald said RLUSD had grown more than 50% in a month and that average daily activity had more than tripled since the start of the year.
The $RLUSD monthly independent attestation for August is now live! And your quick rundown of the latest…
1/ $RLUSD continues to climb, reaching ~$2.4B in market cap, up more than 50% in a month. What’s more exciting… average daily activity has more than tripled since the start…
Ripple’s transparency dashboard listed $2.409Bn in circulating tokens against $2.5315Bn in reserve funds as of September 24. The figures show the scale of the dollar-linked token, but its expanding supply does not by itself establish higher demand for XRP or a higher XRP price.
RLUSD’s growth also comes with distribution across the Ethereum network and the XRP Ledger (XRPL), Ripple’s public network for transferring assets. The expansion may add liquidity and more settlement activity across those networks, while the investment case for XRP remains distinct from the stablecoin’s dollar-pegged function.
The September 24 dashboard snapshot records circulating RLUSD and reserve funds at different amounts, with reserves about $122.5M above circulation. That comparison is specific to that date; it should not be merged with the separate August attestation, which covers earlier snapshots.
For August 31, the independent attestation recorded 2,325,969,308 outstanding tokens and reserve assets valued at $2,446,312,864, roughly $120.3M above the token amount. The examination, dated September 29, covered August 17 and August 31. Ripple’s transparency dashboard publishes monthly reserve reports, giving readers dated figures rather than a single undifferentiated balance.
RLUSD is designed to track the U.S. dollar. Reserve backing and redemption mechanisms help support that target: in practical terms, reserves provide assets intended to support tokens in circulation and their exchange for dollars.
Ripple issues RLUSD through its subsidiary, Standard Custody & Trust Company, regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. RLUSD’s backing is separate from the issuer’s property, protecting the assets supporting the tokens.
As of September, RLUSD had a market cap of approximately $2.4Bn, with around $1.37Bn on Ethereum and $1.05Bn on the XRP Ledger. This expansion lets businesses use digital dollars for invoicing and settlements without relying on unstable cryptocurrencies.
In its first week on Spark’s Stablecoin FX Layer on Uniswap v4, RLUSD/USDS processed over $600M. The updated XRP Ledger AI Starter Kit allows AI agents to make one-time payments using XRP or RLUSD. While this boosts liquidity and usage, it doesn’t guarantee increased demand or value for XRP, as RLUSD is designed to maintain a dollar value, distinct from XRP’s fluctuating market price.
Follow 99Bitcoins on X For the Latest Market Updates and Subscribe on YouTube For Daily Expert Market Analysis.
Established in 2013, 99Bitcoin’s team members have been crypto experts since Bitcoin’s Early days.
Alex is a seasoned cryptocurrency trader and market analyst with over seven years of active experience in the digital asset space. Since entering the markets in 2017, Alex has specialized in identifying emerging "meta" trends and high-volatility narratives. Notably, Alex... Read More
Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
RLUSD's $2.4B market cap positions it as a mid-tier stablecoin, now competing in a fragmented landscape dominated by USDT (~$130B) and USDC (~$35B). Growth here signals Ripple's ability to convert its banking relationships and XRP ecosystem utility into tangible stablecoin adoption—a meaningful but secondary validation. The key distinction: RLUSD liquidity doesn't inherently strengthen XRP's core value proposition as a settlement asset; stablecoins serve different use cases (pegging, trading pairs, yield generation) than native tokens.
For XRP specifically, RLUSD represents optionality rather than catalyst. Ripple gains infrastructure revenue and deeper banking integration, but stablecoin success doesn't require native token velocity. Conversely, if RLUSD becomes the de facto on-ramp for Ripple's institutional corridors, XRP could see indirect demand pressure through bridge mechanisms. The real signal: Ripple is systematizing the plumbing layer (stablecoins, compliance rails) where regulatory moats exist—a lower-volatility business model than token appreciation, but one that may cannibalize XRP's original use case thesis.