Ripple’s RLUSD Explodes Past $1.1 Billion Market Cap on Ethereum, Igniting Multi-Chain Ambitions

Ripple's stablecoin just crossed a billion-dollar milestone on Ethereum—and it's not stopping there.

The Ethereum Launchpad

RLUSD didn't just arrive on Ethereum; it conquered it. Surging to a $1.1 billion market cap, the asset proves demand exists beyond Ripple's native XRP Ledger. The move signals a strategic pivot—using Ethereum's vast liquidity and developer ecosystem as a springboard for broader adoption.

Multi-Chain, Not Single-Chain

This isn't about picking winners. The Ethereum success story is merely chapter one. Ripple's playbook clearly involves deploying RLUSD across multiple blockchains, creating a fluid, interoperable stablecoin that bypasses traditional financial corridors. Think of it as digital dollar diplomacy on a decentralized scale.

Why This Cross-Chain Push Matters

Stablecoins have become the lifeblood of crypto markets—the settlement layer for everything from DeFi trades to remittances. By going multi-chain, RLUSD aims to be the connective tissue, reducing friction and capturing value wherever transactions occur. It's a direct challenge to the walled-garden approach of some legacy stablecoin issuers.

The Road Ahead: Liquidity Begets Liquidity

The $1.1 billion figure isn't an endpoint—it's validation. This initial traction on Ethereum builds credibility and liquidity, making subsequent expansions onto other chains significantly easier. The network effect kicks in, attracting more users and developers, which in turn drives further adoption. A classic flywheel, just with more blockchain jargon.

Ripple is executing a land grab in the stablecoin space, using Ethereum's established turf as its first beachhead. The billion-dollar market cap shouts one thing: they're here to play. And in the high-stakes game of digital finance, sometimes you have to use your competitor's home field to prove you belong—a move that would make any cynical investment banker smirk at its brutal pragmatism.

Why multi-chain expansion is gaining importance

Ripple created RLUSD to support both conventional financial applications and blockchain-based payments. Ether has access to DEEP liquidity, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and institutional trading activity. 

Conversely, the XRP Ledger has higher transaction speeds and reduced costs, which is why it is applicable in day-to-day payment and settlement applications.

This two-network presence has already helped RLUSD to venture into new regions. In the recent past, Ripple has collaborated with Gemini, which enabled RLUSD to be utilized as a card settlement service. 

The collaboration emphasizes the role of cross-chain compatibility in unlocking the real-world payment applications beyond crypto trading.

Ripple has not declared its further expansion plans of RLUSD. Nevertheless, with the recent regulatory sanction of the use of the RLUSD in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) framework, it is possible that regulated financial environments are starting to accept RLUSD as a valid settlement method.

In a larger market context, the increasing demand of stablecoins pegged to regulated issuers is an indication of a transition to transparency following the previous failures in the market like TerraUSD in 2022. 

This has made regulators and institutions pay more attention to reserve-backed stablecoins since then, contributing to the popularity of projects such as RLUSD.

XRPL development sees renewed activity

The RLUSD momentum is also pursued by the renewed activity of David Schwartz, the former CTO of Ripple and one of the creators of the XRP Ledger. Schwartz has recently declared that he has created a special XRPL hub to check the network performance in real time.

It has a few purposes:
1) I hadn't been running any XRPL infrastructure for a few years and thought it WOULD be cool to start again.
2) There had been some instances of increased latency between some validators, and I thought one good megahub could meaningfully reduce network…

He admitted that he had not been so engaged in infrastructure operations over the last few years but came back to resolve the problem of validator latency. Schwartz argues that a strong monitoring hub can greatly minimize network delays and enhance reliability.

At the protocol level, the XRPL has recently added a new Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) standard in order to tokenize real-world assets. This upgrade enhances the network to accommodate financial instruments other than mere payment.

Why this matters

The development of RLUSD underscores the rising demand in the market of regulated and interoperable stablecoins as cross-chain payments, asset tokenization, and global settlement approaches real-world application. 

Although the strategy of Ripple is under notice, wider adoption is yet to be achieved due to the regulatory clarity, liquidity stability, and the reliability of the infrastructure in both Ethereum and XRPL.

At present trading levels, RLUSD is closely pegged to the U.S. dollar, and the majority of the activity is focused on settlement and payment-based use cases as opposed to speculative trading.

Also Read: Ripple Acquires Four Firms to Build One-Stop Shop Platform