Key Highlights
- RLUSD market cap hits $1.1B on Ethereum, boosting discussion around Ripple’s multi-chain approach.
- Analysts and lawyer Bill Morgan praise Ripple’s dual-chain strategy, warning single-chain projects may fall behind.
- XRPL sees renewed upgrades and oversight from former Ripple CTO David Schwartz, supporting broader stablecoin and tokenization growth.
The U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin of Ripple, RLUSD, has surpassed a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion on Ethereum, which indicates increasing demand for the token in various blockchain networks.
Fresh data from raw.xyz, shows RLUSD’s total market cap is $1.29 billion, with 39,259 holders, of which majority are on XRPL. Activity of RLUSD has also increased with monthly transfer volume of $4.52 billion, spanning on both Ethereum and XRP Ledger.
The move has sparked debate over the decision of Ripple to implement RLUSD on both the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum, which some analysts now regard as a major driver of its adoption.
This debate was further fueled by crypto analyst Wendy O who said on X that Ripple had made one of its most strategic decisions by implementing a multi-chain distribution model to RLUSD.
She argued that the projects that confined themselves to a single blockchain might not work as the crypto world moves more towards cross-chain interoperability.
This was also echoed by crypto lawyer Bill Morgan who cautioned that platforms that do not grow beyond one network risk being left behind. His remarks were based on the recent data provided by Token Terminal that revealed the consistent growth of the market cap of RLUSD on Ethereum.
The remarks indicate a larger industry discussion on whether future stablecoins should be able to work on multiple networks to be competitive.
Why multi-chain expansion is gaining importance
Ripple created RLUSD to support both conventional financial applications and blockchain-based payments. Ether has access to deep liquidity, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and institutional trading activity.
Conversely, the XRP Ledger has higher transaction speeds and reduced costs, which is why it is applicable in day-to-day payment and settlement applications.
This two-network presence has already helped RLUSD to venture into new regions. In the recent past, Ripple has collaborated with Gemini, which enabled RLUSD to be utilized as a card settlement service.
The collaboration emphasizes the role of cross-chain compatibility in unlocking the real-world payment applications beyond crypto trading.
Ripple has not declared its further expansion plans of RLUSD. Nevertheless, with the recent regulatory sanction of the use of the RLUSD in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) framework, it is possible that regulated financial environments are starting to accept RLUSD as a valid settlement method.
In a larger market context, the increasing demand of stablecoins pegged to regulated issuers is an indication of a transition to transparency following the previous failures in the market like TerraUSD in 2022.
This has made regulators and institutions pay more attention to reserve-backed stablecoins since then, contributing to the popularity of projects such as RLUSD.
XRPL development sees renewed activity
The RLUSD momentum is also pursued by the renewed activity of David Schwartz, the former CTO of Ripple and one of the creators of the XRP Ledger. Schwartz has recently declared that he has created a special XRPL hub to check the network performance in real time.
He admitted that he had not been so engaged in infrastructure operations over the last few years but came back to resolve the problem of validator latency. Schwartz argues that a strong monitoring hub can greatly minimize network delays and enhance reliability.
At the protocol level, the XRPL has recently added a new Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) standard in order to tokenize real-world assets. This upgrade enhances the network to accommodate financial instruments other than mere payment.
Why this matters
The development of RLUSD underscores the rising demand in the market of regulated and interoperable stablecoins as cross-chain payments, asset tokenization, and global settlement approaches real-world application.
Although the strategy of Ripple is under notice, wider adoption is yet to be achieved due to the regulatory clarity, liquidity stability, and the reliability of the infrastructure in both Ethereum and XRPL.
At present trading levels, RLUSD is closely pegged to the U.S. dollar, and the majority of the activity is focused on settlement and payment-based use cases as opposed to speculative trading.
Also Read: Ripple Acquires Four Firms to Build One-Stop Shop Platform
