Nearly all of RLUSD’s explosive growth has happened on Ethereum. The numbers don’t lie – a whopping $819 million in RLUSD tokens live on Ethereum, while just $203 million exist on the XRP Ledger. That’s a pretty stark imbalance for a stablecoin created by Ripple, the company behind XRP.
RLUSD has skyrocketed to become the 10th largest US dollar-backed stablecoin, blasting past the $1 billion market cap milestone less than a year after its December 2024 launch. Quite the achievement. But XRPL users might be feeling like forgotten stepchildren as they watch the action unfold primarily on Ethereum.
RLUSD’s meteoric rise leaves XRPL devotees watching from the sidelines while Ethereum takes center stage.
The institutional money is flooding in, and it’s choosing Ethereum. RLUSD’s recognition as an “Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token” by Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority has opened doors, with the token now used for settlements, lending, and collateral management in the UAE and beyond. This aligns perfectly with RLUSD’s full collateralization approach using U.S. cash and Treasury securities. It’s even handling Mastercard credit-card settlements now. Big stuff.
Cross-border payments? RLUSD’s doing that too – $50 million worth deployed in 2025 alone. Africa and emerging markets are the next frontier. But again, Ethereum’s getting the lion’s share.
The stablecoin’s regulatory status isn’t hurting either. Issued by Ripple’s New York-regulated subsidiary and backed by dollar reserves and short-term US Treasuries, RLUSD has the compliance credentials institutions crave.
What’s interesting is RLUSD’s impact on XRP itself. Sure, RLUSD uses XRP for transaction fees on XRPL, creating some demand. But with only 20% of supply on XRPL, that’s small potatoes. Worse, RLUSD’s Ethereum dominance might actually undermine XRP’s role as the primary bridge asset in Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity system. This shift comes at a critical time when XRP’s price action showed a significant rally with nearly 400% increase since election day, suggesting a disconnect between token performance and actual utility. This evolution mirrors historical monetary transitions where fiat currency gradually replaced commodity-backed systems, similarly changing established financial hierarchies.
The growth metrics are staggering – 1,278% market cap increase year-to-date in 2025. Monthly volumes in the billions. But for XRPL devotees watching Ethereum become RLUSD’s true home, those impressive numbers might feel like salt in the wound.
