XRP: Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin Tops $244M in Q1 2025

XRP continues to gain momentum in the stablecoin sector as Ripple’s RLUSD wrapped up the first quarter of 2025 with a substantial market capitalization of $244.2 million, spanning both the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum platforms.

On XRPL alone, RLUSD accumulated a market cap of $44.2 million, securing its position as the most prominent stablecoin on the network. This growth significantly influenced the broader ecosystem, propelling the total value of fungible tokens, known as Issued Currencies, on XRPL by 6.5% quarter-over-quarter, reaching $281.5 million. These insights are consolidated in the recent report published by Messari.

Stablecoin Milestone for RLUSD

Despite RLUSD’s impressive expansion on its native ledger, its adoption is still in early stages when compared to mass-market stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), which capped Q1 with total market caps of $144 billion and $60.1 billion, respectively, across all supported blockchains.

Historically, the launch of a trusted stablecoin in a new ecosystem has triggered enhanced liquidity. Instances such as Cardano’s iUSD debut in 2023 illustrate this trend, where stablecoins function as vital pair assets in automated market maker (AMM) liquidity pools.

Previously, tokens with strong regulatory compliance, like RLUSD, faced hurdles in XRPL’s AMM environment because they included Clawback functionality—a mechanism allowing issuers to reverse or reclaim distributed tokens. Until January 2025, XRPL’s AMMs lacked support for this feature, disallowing compliant assets from active participation. The landscape changed following the Clawback amendment’s implementation, making these tokens tradable within the AMM framework.

This update is expected to significantly amplify AMM-related activities. Notable advantages include unlocking liquidity for real-world assets (RWAs), enabling yield opportunities through decentralized liquidity participation, and streamlining cross-chain arbitrage strategies.

Building RLUSD’s Ecosystem

RLUSD made its public debut on December 17, 2024. It is fully collateralized by a combination of U.S. dollar reserves, short-duration U.S. Treasuries, and other high-quality cash equivalents. To enhance transparency, independent third-party attestation reports are released monthly.

To further solidify RLUSD’s utility, Ripple integrated Chainlink Price Feeds on Ethereum in January for reliable on-chain pricing data. This step strengthened the token’s credibility and application on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

Expanding its reach, RLUSD was incorporated into Ripple Payments, the company’s cross-border payment solution, in April. The stablecoin also gained exchange support from Kraken and saw broader adoption through additional Q1 listings on platforms such as LMAX Group, Zero Hash, and Bitstamp. These joined a growing consortium of exchanges already supporting RLUSD, including Uphold, Bitso, MoonPay, Archax, CoinMENA, Independent Reserve, and Bullish.

Further strengthening the infrastructure around XRP and RLUSD, Ripple entered into a strategic agreement with Korean digital asset custodian BDACS in February. The partnership is aimed at enhancing secure custody services for Ripple’s growing digital asset portfolio, including XRP and RLUSD.

Related: Expert Advice: Sell XRP If You’re Confused

As Ripple deepens its ecosystem and regulatory credibility around RLUSD, it not only reinforces XRPL’s evolving functionality but also signals a foundational shift in how compliant digital assets could unlock broader decentralized financial opportunities in 2025 and beyond.