Ripple USD (RLUSD): Ripple’s Own Regulated Dollar Stablecoin
Launched 2024 under New York oversight on XRPL and Ethereum
Ripple USD (RLUSD) is a US-dollar stablecoin, a coin designed to stay worth one dollar, issued by the cross-border payments company Ripple. It launched in December 2024 on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.
1. Who issues it
RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a Ripple subsidiary holding a trust charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Ripple bought the firm in 2024, received final NYDFS approval on 10 December and launched RLUSD on 17 December. Its advisory board includes former FDIC chair Sheila Bair.
Ripple is the company that has championed the XRP coin and the XRP Ledger (XRPL), and it runs payment services for banks and money-transfer firms. RLUSD was built to act as a digital dollar moving through those services. On the Crypto Nation map, RLUSD stands in XRP City, because the XRP Ledger counts as its home chain.
2. How it holds one dollar
Each RLUSD is backed by segregated reserves of US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasuries and cash equivalents matching the tokens issued. An independent accounting firm’s attestation of the reserves is published every month, and in July 2025 BNY (Bank of New York Mellon) became the primary reserve custodian.
Verified institutional customers can mint new RLUSD or redeem it for dollars one-for-one through Ripple, while most other users trade it on exchanges. The same issuer manages the RLUSD on both chains, and anyone can check each chain’s minting and burning.
3. Uses and milestones
RLUSD is used for cross-border payments, business settlements and as DeFi collateral. Ripple has wired it into its own services, including as collateral at Ripple Prime, the institutional brokerage it acquired in 2025. In June 2025 Dubai’s regulator (DFSA) recognised it for use in the DIFC financial centre.
Regulation moved fast too. The US passed its stablecoin law, the GENIUS Act, in July 2025; that month Ripple applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter, winning conditional approval in December. Ripple’s long legal fight with the SEC over XRP sales also ended in 2025.
4. Things to know
Fiat-backed stablecoins like RLUSD are centralised: holders rely on the issuer and the banks holding the reserves. The issuer can freeze or claw back tokens at specific addresses, for example at the request of law enforcement, and direct redemption is open only to eligible institutions.
RLUSD started far behind established stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, and it depends heavily on one company’s strategy and on regulation. Like other stablecoins, its exchange price can briefly drift from one dollar in turbulent markets.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.