Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, has surpassed $1 billion in market capitalization less than a year after launching in December 2024.
The milestone makes RLUSD the 10th largest US dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization, according to data from CoinGecko. Issued by XRP creator Ripple, RLUSD is backed by dollar reserves and short-term US Treasuries and is designed to be integrated into Ripple’s wider payment and liquidity infrastructure.
While RLUSD’s market cap remains small compared to the sector’s two dominant players — Tether’s USDT at $183 billion and Circle’s USDC at $76 billion — its rise signals strong early demand. RLUSD’s circulating supply is currently split between $819 million in tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and $203 million on the XRP Ledger network, data from RWA.xyz shows.
Most stablecoins have taken years to reach the billion-dollar mark, and RLUSD’s rapid rise suggests that Ripple has been able to leverage its existing customer base and global financial network to accelerate adoption. The company has marketed the token primarily to institutional clients looking for stable on-chain settlement options, but notable traction among retail users has added to its rapid growth.
Monica Long, president of Ripple, told CoinDesk in an interview that demand for the company’s payment services has been increasing. Ripple has processed nearly $100 billion in payment volume to date, and RLUSD is the “primary stablecoin” used for payment flows, she added.
“We’ve doubled the number of customers over the course of the year,” Long said, adding that Ripple now has over 75 global licenses.
Ripple has been on an acquisition spree this year, buying four companies to complement the firm’s digital assets for institutions and businesses. It bought prime broker Hidden Road, now Ripple Prime, for $1.25 billion, bought stablecoin payments firm Rail for $200 million, with the latest targets being financial technology vendor GTreasury and wallet infrastructure startup Palisade.
“It’s been a really big year for us, both organic growth and inorganic growth,” Long told Coindesk. “We take it all with us [to] collect all the pieces.”
Ripple’s acquisition strategy, Long explained, is to find targets that either accelerate existing offerings, such as Palisade and Rail, which add stablecoin payment options, or help expand the business into new verticals such as Hidden Road’s prime brokerage.
“We will continue to be opportunistic [with acquisitions]. We continue to have a really healthy, great balance,” Long said.
