Ripple Pushes RLUSD as a Settlement Network After Surpassing $2B

RLUSD has surpassed the $2 billion mark, with more than $1 billion of its supply issued on the XRP Ledger as Ripple expands its focus on tokenized assets, payments and lending.

Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD has reached a market capitalization above $2 billion, while over $1 billion of the token has been issued on the XRP Ledger, according to Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president overseeing stablecoins.

McDonald shared the milestone in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, less than two years after RLUSD launched. The update was first reported by blockchain publication The Crypto Basic.

The development represents more than just growth in stablecoin supply. It signals Ripple’s intention to make RLUSD a dollar-denominated settlement layer for tokenized finance, payments and lending, rather than limiting its use primarily to cryptocurrency exchanges.

Ripple News: RLUSD Surpasses $2B

McDonald said RLUSD’s supply on the XRP Ledger has alone exceeded $1 billion, separate from the stablecoin’s overall market capitalization across multiple blockchain networks.

The announcement came in early September, with The Crypto Basic attributing the milestone directly to McDonald’s statement rather than data supplied by an independent market-tracking platform.

That distinction is important because market-cap figures can differ across data providers depending on the timing and methodology used. McDonald’s figures regarding total issuance and its distribution across networks are directly linked to Ripple’s own disclosure.

The growing activity on the XRP Ledger in recent months also helps explain why Ripple is highlighting the amount of RLUSD issued on the network as an important metric.

RLUSD Shifts Toward a Settlement Role

Ripple is looking to establish RLUSD as the dollar-denominated component of tokenized-asset transactions, while XRP can support other activities across the network instead of functioning as the primary settlement currency.

As part of that strategy, Ripple has invested in companies including ZILO and Licuido, seeking to strengthen the digital financial infrastructure surrounding the XRP Ledger.

As banks and other financial institutions increasingly bring securities, funds and other assets onto blockchains, demand for a dollar-based settlement asset could rise with them. Ripple’s efforts to expand XRP Ledger infrastructure access alongside the RLUSD rollout are consistent with that broader strategy.

RLUSD Growth Goes Beyond Market Cap

McDonald welcomed RLUSD’s $2 billion milestone but also stressed that market capitalization should not be viewed as the sole indicator of the stablecoin’s progress. His comments suggest that the figure represents an important checkpoint rather than an end goal.

That qualification is particularly relevant because some of RLUSD’s recent expansion has been driven by exchange-based incentive programs rather than established institutional transaction flows.

For example, Bybit’s Hold and Earn program attracted more than $50 million in RLUSD deposits in just 11 days. Ripple and Bybit subsequently introduced a second phase offering higher rewards for both XRP and RLUSD.

While incentive programs demonstrate demand for the asset, they do not necessarily prove long-term payment adoption. Ripple’s lending initiatives with Clearpool and Cicada Credit could be more significant from an infrastructure perspective.

Those efforts seek to use RLUSD for lending to fintech and payments businesses on the XRP Ledger, as well as support a Kenya-focused initiative involving MC Social Venture, BlockBima and Fortune Credit. The project is intended to improve small-business access to insurance and credit.

Ripple reported that the Kenya initiative reduced settlement times by 97% and lowered costs by roughly 3,000 times. If those results can be maintained at larger scale, they could provide a stronger argument for RLUSD’s long-term utility than any individual market-cap milestone.

However, it remains unclear whether the increase in RLUSD issuance will translate into a meaningful expansion in XRP Ledger liquidity or the broader crypto market. Current data has yet to establish such an effect.

Growth in tokenized real-world assets on the XRP Ledger will therefore be an important metric to monitor as Ripple continues moving RLUSD toward a larger role in institutional settlement.

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