Ripple USD (RLUSD) — Complete Guide

RLUSD is the US dollar stablecoin issued by Ripple Labs, launched on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum in December 2024 following approval from the New York Department of Financial Services. It is backed 1:1 by US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasuries, and cash equivalents, with reserve attestations by BPM LLP. RLUSD aims to facilitate cross-border payments and institutional settlements on the XRP Ledger.

Ripple issues RLUSD through Standard Custody & Trust Company, LLC and Ripple's NYDFS-regulated trust charter. Users and institutions can mint RLUSD by depositing USD through authorized channels, with reserves held in segregated trust accounts. On the XRP Ledger, RLUSD leverages the native CLOB (Central Limit Order Book) DEX for liquidity and settlement, allowing instant atomic swaps between RLUSD, XRP, and other XRPL tokens. On Ethereum, RLUSD follows the ERC-20 standard. Cross-chain functionality is planned via Axelar or similar bridge providers.

• +NYDFS-regulated — same regulatory status as USDP, providing strong institutional credibility
• +Native XRPL integration gives access to the XRP Ledger's built-in DEX and payment channels
• +Ripple's 300+ financial institution partnerships create a built-in distribution network
• +Designed for cross-border settlement, a $150T+/year global market
• +BPM LLP attestations with monthly reserve transparency
• +Low settlement finality on XRPL (3–5 seconds) makes RLUSD efficient for real-time payments

• !Supply is small at launch — thin liquidity limits large institutional trade sizes
• !XRP Ledger adoption for DeFi is significantly lower than Ethereum, limiting DeFi integrations
• !Ripple Labs has been under SEC litigation since 2020 (mostly resolved by 2025 but reputational damage lingers)