Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD is approaching another milestone, with its market capitalization now sitting at about $1.58 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. That makes RLUSD one of the larger dollar-backed tokens in the market and underscores how quickly Ripple has scaled the product since launch.
The growth story is unfolding alongside a broader political fight over whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to pass yield on to users. That debate intensified this week after Eric Trump accused major U.S. banks of trying to block yield-bearing stablecoins, calling the effort anti-consumer and anti-American. The dispute has added a fresh political edge to the stablecoin race just as RLUSD continues gaining traction.
RLUSD keeps expanding across Ripple’s payments network
Ripple has been positioning RLUSD as more than just another exchange-traded stablecoin. In a company announcement published last week, Ripple said Corpay is already using RLUSD for funding and settlement across Asia-Pacific, while other financial firms are integrating Ripple’s infrastructure for cross-border payment flows. That gives RLUSD a more direct enterprise payments narrative than many rivals in the same size range.
Ripple has also emphasized RLUSD’s multichain design. The company says the stablecoin was initially issued on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, and has since moved toward broader interoperability through additional network expansion plans. That dual-chain structure is central to Ripple’s pitch that RLUSD can serve both institutional payment use cases and wider onchain liquidity needs.
Why XRP holders are watching RLUSD closely
RLUSD’s rise matters for XRP because activity on the XRP Ledger supports broader usage of Ripple’s ecosystem. Ripple itself has increasingly framed RLUSD and XRPL as complementary pieces of a larger institutional finance strategy, especially around payments, tokenization, and liquidity movement. While it would be too strong to say each RLUSD transaction creates major direct buying pressure on XRP, the stablecoin’s growth does increase transaction activity and utility across Ripple-linked infrastructure.
That ecosystem angle is one reason RLUSD is attracting attention beyond simple market-cap comparisons. Ripple is trying to build a payments and liquidity stack where stablecoins, settlement rails, and enterprise tools reinforce one another rather than operating as separate products.
Stablecoin yields have become a political flashpoint
The other major theme is regulation. The Block reported this month that banks remain firmly opposed to looser rules around stablecoin yields, pushing for tighter restrictions than some crypto advocates want. Eric Trump then amplified that fight publicly, accusing banks of lobbying to prevent consumers from accessing the higher returns often offered in crypto markets.
That does not yet mean U.S. law is about to change in favor of yield-bearing stablecoins. But it does show how the stablecoin market is moving from a crypto niche into a larger policy battle involving banks, lobby groups, and lawmakers. For fast-growing tokens like RLUSD, the outcome could shape how competitive they become against traditional cash products and bank deposits.
RLUSD is growing, but the market is still dominated by giants
Even at nearly $1.6 billion, RLUSD remains far smaller than the biggest stablecoin leaders. CoinMarketCap’s stablecoin category shows the sector has grown into a market worth more than $318 billion, with the largest players still controlling most of the liquidity. RLUSD’s recent growth is notable, but it is still competing in a market dominated by much larger incumbents.
That said, Ripple’s approach is clearly different from a simple retail stablecoin play. Its focus is on regulated finance, payments infrastructure, and multichain interoperability. If that strategy continues to translate into real enterprise usage, RLUSD could keep gaining share even without matching the scale of the top two issuers anytime soon.
Ripple’s stablecoin push is becoming harder to ignore
RLUSD’s climb toward $1.6 billion shows Ripple is making real progress in stablecoins at a time when the sector is becoming more politically sensitive and more strategically important. The token’s expansion across Ripple’s payments network, combined with the growing fight over stablecoin yields, is putting the project in the middle of one of crypto’s most important battles: whether digital dollars will remain a niche product or become a serious alternative to traditional banking.
