Big Adoption News for Ripple’s Stablecoin (RLUSD)

TL;DR

• RLUSD gained further support, but it remains an insignificant player in the stablecoin niche.
• Cardano is also open to bringing the product into its ecosystem, with Charles Hoskinson recently saying the team would do the integration for free because they like the XRP community.

Adoption on the Rise

The leading cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has become the latest to offer trading services with Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD. Earlier today (May 29), it listed the product in its innovation and Web3 zone. The exact pairs available to users are RLUSD/USDT and RLUSD/USDC, as withdrawals will be enabled from May 30. 

Additionally, Euler Labs – a UK-based technology company specializing in DeFi applications – also embraced RLUSD. It allowed its clients to borrow, lend, or use the token as collateral. 

RLUSD is a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the American dollar. Its official debut was in mid-December last week, and initially, the exchanges that backed it included Bitso, Uphold, Bitstamp, Moonpay, and others. Earlier this year, the US-based Kraken and Gemini also followed suit. 

Despite the growing interest and support from popular exchanges, RLUSD remains a minor player in the stablecoin sector. With a market cap slightly above $300 million, it accounts for just 0.12% of the niche’s total capitalization of nearly $250 billion.

The leader in the field remains USDT, issued by Tether. Its market cap stands at almost $153 billion, followed by Circle’s USDC, whose figure is roughly $61.2 billion. 

It’s worth noting that Ripple is reportedly making big moves in an attempt to acquire the company behind the second-largest meme coin. As reported previously, individuals familiar with the matter claim that Ripple is slightly ahead of Coinbase in the battle for Circle, which, on the other hand, is planning an IPO in the United States.

However, the USDC issuer later denied the aforementioned reports, indicating that it was not for sale.

Cardano’s Plans

Cardano has been actively exploring the integration of Ripple’s stablecoin in the past several months. Its founder, Charles Hoskinson, initially expressed such intentions towards the end of 2024, following an apology to the XRP community for his past criticism.

In November last year, he revealed having a conversation with Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, during which the bosses supposedly exchanged kind words and hinted at a potential collaboration.

Earlier this year, Hoskinson stated that the two teams had a call regarding the integration of RLUSD. Ripple fanned the flames of speculation about a possible partnership by featuring Cardano’s logo in one of its videos on X, shared back in April. Just a few days ago, Hoskinson doubled down on the idea, stating:

“We would like to find a path to get RLUSD on Cardano… We would do the integration for free because we like the XRP community, but it’s still an ongoing conversation.”

Nonetheless, nothing has been officially confirmed yet.