RLUSD is Ripple USD, a US-dollar stablecoin issued by Ripple under a New York regulator. It launched in December 2024 and, as of late May 2026, sits at roughly $1.78 billion in market capitalization with about 1.78 billion tokens in circulation, each holding the $1.00 peg (CoinGecko, May 27, 2026). This page explains what RLUSD is, how its dual-chain design on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum actually works, what its NYDFS charter means in practice, how the reserves are held, and the question that keeps coming up: whether RLUSD replaces or competes with XRP. It does not.
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RLUSD (Ripple USD) is a fiat-backed stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. It is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a Ripple subsidiary, under a limited-purpose trust company charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Every token is intended to be redeemable for one US dollar and is backed by a segregated reserve of US dollar deposits, short-dated US Treasury bills, and cash equivalents.
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Unlike stablecoins built first for retail trading volume, RLUSD was positioned around regulatory standing and enterprise payments from day one. That framing is the main thing separating it from the price-chart view you get on a tracker: the reserve structure, the regulator behind it, and the chains it settles on are the parts that matter, and they are covered below.
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No. RLUSD and XRP are different assets with different jobs, and RLUSD does not replace XRP. XRP is Ripple’s native cryptocurrency with a floating market price; it acts as a bridge asset and pays the network fees on the XRP Ledger. RLUSD is a stablecoin that holds a $1.00 value and is meant to be the dollar leg of a payment, not the rail itself.
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A practical way to see the split: when you send RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, you still need a small amount of XRP in the wallet to cover transaction fees and the account reserve. XRP keeps doing the plumbing; RLUSD carries the stable value. Ripple states the two are designed to complement each other rather than substitute.
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The nuance the long-tail queries are really chasing is demand competition. Some analysts argue that as institutions standardize on a regulated dollar token for settlement, fewer flows may route through XRP as the bridge currency. That is a debate about adoption mix, not a statement that one token is being retired. Ripple has leaned further into the stablecoin side, including its acquisition of payments firm Rail, while continuing to use XRP for liquidity and on-ledger fees.
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RLUSD is natively issued on two chains: the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. “Natively issued” means the token is minted directly on each chain rather than wrapped or bridged from a single home chain, so an RLUSD on Ethereum and an RLUSD on the XRP Ledger are both first-class tokens backed by the same reserve.
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On the XRP Ledger, RLUSD settles in seconds with very low fees, which fits high-volume payment and cross-border settlement. On Ethereum, RLUSD is an ERC-20 token, so it can plug into the broader onchain ecosystem, smart contracts, and DeFi protocols for lending, liquidity, and collateral use. A payment provider can pick the XRP Ledger for cost and speed; a protocol or treasury desk can pick Ethereum for composability.
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To move RLUSD between chains, Ripple uses Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers standard, which transfers the native token across chains without creating a wrapped or synthetic version. Beyond the two live chains, Ripple has been testing RLUSD on Ethereum Layer-2 networks including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, with broader rollout subject to NYDFS approval. Treat L2 support as in progress rather than fully live.
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RLUSD is issued under an NYDFS limited-purpose trust company charter held by Standard Custody & Trust. In plain terms, the New York Department of Financial Services is the state regulator overseeing the issuer, and the trust charter is the same category of approval used by other New York-regulated stablecoins. It is one of the stricter US frameworks a dollar token can operate under.
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What the charter requires in practice: the issuer must hold reserves in low-risk, segregated assets, follow defined custody and redemption rules, and submit to ongoing supervision and reporting. It does not make a stablecoin risk-free, and a state charter is not the same as federal money or a bank deposit. What it does is put a named regulator and audited reserve rules behind the token, which is the specific reason enterprises cite RLUSD over less-supervised alternatives.
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RLUSD reserves are held as US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasury bills, and cash equivalents in segregated accounts. BNY Mellon serves as the primary custodian of the RLUSD reserves, a role it took on in 2025. Independent attestations of the reserves are published monthly by Deloitte, reporting on whether the backing assets fully cover tokens in circulation.
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The combination is the part a price tracker will not show you: a regulated issuer, a large traditional-bank custodian holding the assets, and a recurring third-party attestation. Reserve composition and the attestation reports can change over time, so the issuer’s published monthly attestation is the authoritative source for current figures.
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The most common comparison is RLUSD against USDC, since both lead with regulatory positioning. The table below focuses on backing and availability rather than which is “better.” Figures are as of late May 2026.
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The headline difference is scale and reach: USDC is far larger and is issued natively across many more chains, so it tends to have deeper liquidity and more venue support. RLUSD is smaller and concentrated on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, with its edge being the XRP Ledger settlement path and Ripple’s payments network. For a deeper side-by-side, see our RLUSD vs USDC comparison.
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RLUSD’s core use case is cross-border payments and settlement. Ripple integrates RLUSD into its payments network alongside XRP, letting customers settle in a stable dollar token where counterparties want predictable value rather than a floating asset.
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RLUSD is available on a growing list of exchanges and on-ramps, and you can also receive it directly onchain on the XRP Ledger or Ethereum. Availability shifts as new venues list it, so confirm support in your jurisdiction before transacting.
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If you are routing a stablecoin between chains or swapping into RLUSD, cross-chain stablecoin tooling and swap platforms handle the conversion and transfer.
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RLUSD has grown quickly from a small base. It went from roughly $130 million in market cap about a year ago to around $1.78 billion as of late May 2026, ranking it among the larger regulated dollar tokens though still far behind USDT and USDC. Growth has been driven by exchange listings, integration into Ripple’s payments network, and expansion into new markets, including payment partnerships in Africa.
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Ripple has also signaled a heavier commitment to the stablecoin side of its business, including acquiring payments firm Rail. The token has generally held its $1.00 peg closely since launch.
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RLUSD carries the same broad categories of risk as other fiat-backed stablecoins. These are stated factually, not as a verdict:
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Is RLUSD the same as XRP?
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No. XRP is Ripple’s floating-price cryptocurrency that acts as a bridge asset and pays fees on the XRP Ledger. RLUSD is a separate stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. RLUSD is designed to complement XRP, not replace it.
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Does RLUSD run on XRP?
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RLUSD is natively issued on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. When you send RLUSD on the XRP Ledger you still need a small XRP balance to cover transaction fees and the account reserve, but RLUSD itself is a distinct token, not XRP.
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How is RLUSD backed?
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Each token is backed by a segregated reserve of US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasury bills, and cash equivalents. BNY Mellon is the primary reserve custodian, and Deloitte publishes monthly attestations on the reserves.
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Who regulates RLUSD?
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RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody & Trust under a limited-purpose trust company charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
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What chains is RLUSD on?
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It is natively issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, with cross-chain movement handled through Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers. Ripple has been testing Ethereum Layer-2 networks including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, with wider rollout pending NYDFS approval.
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How does RLUSD compare to USDC?
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Both are regulated dollar stablecoins. USDC is much larger (~$76.7B vs ~$1.78B) and issued natively across many more chains. RLUSD’s distinguishing features are its NYDFS trust charter, BNY Mellon custody, and native settlement on the XRP Ledger inside Ripple’s payments network. See the full RLUSD vs USDC breakdown and our guide to what a stablecoin is.
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