After several months of preparations, blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs Inc. has finally launched RLUSD, its United States dollar-backed stablecoins.
Markedly, the San Francisco-based blockchain payments firm announced the potential launch of RLUSD on December 16.
Ripple Labs RLUSD Stablecoin and Key Trading Details
In this announcement, Ripple confirmed that the debut will involve key launch partners, which include some of the world’s leading crypto exchanges and platforms.
Upon launching, the token went live on several global cryptocurrency exchanges, including Uphold, MoonPay, CoinMENA, ArchaxEx, and Bitso.
Apart from these trading platforms, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed that Bullish, Mercado Bitcoin, Bitstamp, Zero Hash, and Independent Reserve will get on the list soon.
The RLUSD launch happened on Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL). Noteworthy, the move to launch Ripple’s stablecoin faced a slight delay because of some regulatory hurdles.
This latest development suggests that the blockchain firm has made headway with regulators in the United States. On December 17, RLUSD received final approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
The new stablecoin may evolve to compete for market share with established rivals like Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDT. Both stablecoins control over 85% of the stablecoin’s market capitalization.
RLUSD is reportedly equipped with features to effectively compete with the two largest stablecoins. Right from conception, Ripple’s new stablecoin was pegged to the US dollar 1:1.
XPMarket report noted that the price of RLUSD has now settled at $1, after opening at about $1.15. The coin has a fully diluted market cap of $13.3 million and a $1.3 million market cap.
Before the launch, Ripple CTO David Schwartz warned of a possible shortage of stablecoin supply. On the brighter side, such supply shock situations could increase prices.
Community Reaction to RLUSD Launch
Ripple plans to deliver an enterprise-grade solution that combines the stability of fiat currency with the efficiency of blockchain technology.
It promises to help its business clients make cross-border transactions. With RLUSD, Ripple hopes to provide global payment solutions that are affordable, secure, and efficient at their core.
Apart from providing global payments, users can leverage RLUSD for crypto on/off ramping.
It could also allow users to participate in the rapidly growing tokenized real-world assets market. The news of the stablecoin launch has ignited excitement amongst crypto community members.
Many of these entities are looking forward to the impact of the RLUSD launch on XRP’s price. First, it will boost liquidity, helping to drive key XRP trades.
One user on X stated, “……now we will see XRP start pumping hard!” Another user clarified that they expect the RLUSD stablecoin to launch on the Cardano blockchain.
Potential Impact on XRP
Meanwhile, the price of XRP dropped for a few hours just after RLUSD launched.
Precisely, there was a sharp drop of more than 2.2%, causing the coin’s price to drop to $2.635 as of writing.
This could have been triggered by the action of users who tried exchanging the cryptocurrency for RLUSD.
However, XRP has seen some enormous rebound and price gain over the past month. Per market data, XRP is trading at $2.59 after recording an increase of 5.14% within the last 24 hours.
