Ripple Prepares to Bring Stablecoin to Global Exchanges

Blockchain firm Ripple says it is preparing to bring its stablecoin to the world’s exchanges.

The dollar-backed Ripple USD (RLUSD) will be available beginning Dec. 17, the company announced Monday (Dec. 16), in the latest example of rising enthusiasm in the digital asset sector following the election of Donald Trump last month.

“Early on, Ripple made a deliberate choice to launch our stablecoin under the NYDFS limited purpose trust company charter, widely regarded as the premier regulatory standard worldwide,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a news release. “As the U.S. moves toward clearer regulations, we expect to see greater adoption of stablecoins like RLUSD, which offer real utility and are backed by years of trust and expertise in the industry.”

According to the release, RLUSD will be initially available on Uphold, Bitso, MoonPay, Archax, and CoinMENA, and is expected to become available on platforms like Bullish, Bitstamp, Mercado Bitcoin, Independent Reserve and Zero Hash in the weeks ahead.

The company argues RLUSD will allow institutions to facilitate instant settlement of cross-border payments, access liquidity for remittance and treasury functions, and provide collateral when trading tokenized real-world assets.

“Early next year, Ripple Payments will use RLUSD to facilitate global payments on behalf of its enterprise customers,” the release added. “Ripple Payments has served $70 billion in payments volume and counting, and has near-global coverage with 90+ payout markets, which represent more than 90% coverage of the daily FX market.”

Garlinghouse is among several crypto world figures expecting to see more “regulatory clarity” when Trump takes office next month. The hopes of a more crypto-friendly administration has led to a boom in crypto prices, with bitcoin reaching $103,000 Monday.

The price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency had already exceeded $100,000 for the first time earlier in the month when Trump tapped crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote recently about the role of stablecoins as a “compelling alternative” for traditional cross-border payments, as they allow near-instantaneous transfers, much lower costs and enhanced transparency via blockchain technology.

“However, their utility has been somewhat limited by the difficulty of moving funds between stablecoins and fiat currencies — a gap that on-ramp and off-ramp services aim to fill,” that report said.

“For banks, this functionality highlights the emergence of a potentially stark choice: adapt to a changing payments landscape or risk disintermediation.”