Ripple Pushes RLUSD for Global Settlements

Ripple's growing focus on RLUSD has led to concerns that XRP is being reduced to a limited function. RLUSD continues to gain broader use

Ripple's growing focus on RLUSD has led to concerns that XRP is being reduced to a limited function.

According to a recent article by AZcoins, Ripple's strategy to expand its stablecoin presence is encountering pushback from the XRP community. As RLUSD continues to gain broader use across Ripple's ecosystem, XRP's role appears increasingly narrow. The shift has sparked debate about Ripple's long-term vision for its platform.

In December 2024, Ripple introduced RLUSD to enhance transaction stability and attract more institutional adoption. Since then, RLUSD has reached a market cap of $316 million and was recently listed on Gemini, signaling Ripple's push to expand the stablecoin's usage across payment and settlement operations.

Earlier this year, in February, Ripple integrated RLUSD into Ripple Payments, enabling cross-border transactions with fiat price stability. The integration marked a key step in RLUSD's evolution as a multi-functional asset. RLUSD now supports onboarding for various fiat currencies and retail payment settlements.

Ripple's stablecoin strategy prioritizes RLUSD for its low volatility and regulatory alignment. RLUSD handles settlement operations across multiple regions while maintaining price consistency. Ripple has also hinted at launching region-specific stablecoins like RLGBP and RLEUR in the future.

However, some community members feel that XRP's utility has become more restricted. Primarily, XRP covers transaction fees and supports auto-bridging between assets on the ledger.

Community analysts, such as illiquiditypool on X, argue that XRP is no longer central to Ripple's liquidity strategy. They claim Ripple is shifting major functions to RLUSD, pushing XRP to the background. While XRP remains the default bridge asset, its dominance could decline if trends persist.

Responding to the concerns, Ripple executives, including CTO David Schwartz, have reaffirmed XRP's importance in ledger operations. They emphasized XRP's resistance to freezing and lack of national control, which, according to Schwartz, make it indispensable for decentralized finance infrastructure.

Despite the criticism, Ripple maintains that XRP and RLUSD serve different but essential roles within its platform. XRP functions as a fast and jurisdiction-free bridge, while RLUSD represents fiat value on-chain.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse emphasized this distinction during a January 2025 interview. He stated that "XRP is used to quickly and efficiently bridge value between different blockchains and assets, while RLUSD provides a stablecoin for on-chain settlement."

Further clarifying the dual-token approach, Ripple President Monica Long explained that clients can choose tokens based on transaction needs. According to Long, the structure supports stability and speed, depending on the use case. This flexibility forms the backbone of Ripple's payment ecosystem.

As Ripple continues to expand RLUSD's integration without entirely phasing out XRP, the firm insists that both assets operate in parallel, fulfilling unique roles. While RLUSD handles settlements, XRP sustains liquidity pathways across diverse digital and fiat currencies.