Ripple Begins Testing Its Stablecoin on Ethereum and XRP Ledger

The company said it plans to use both Ripple USD (RLUSD) and XRP for cross-border payments services.

Blockchain service provider Ripple has begun testing its stablecoin on the Ethereum mainnet and XRP Ledger, the company announced on Friday.

The stablecoin, called Ripple USD (RLUSD), is currently being tested by enterprise partners before it becomes widely available, pending regulatory approval, Ripple said in a blog post.

“This phase is crucial for ensuring that the stablecoin meets the highest standards of security, efficiency, and reliability,” the company added.

Backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries, dollar deposits and cash equivalents, the reserves will be audited by a third-party accounting firm, and Ripple plans to report monthly attestations, according to the blog post.

The company said it will offer both RLUSD and XRP for global payments services to clients. The stablecoin isn’t tradeable yet as it still needs to receive regulatory approval, Ripple added.

The announcement comes after Ripple unveiled its plans in April to enter the rapidly growing stablecoin market with its own U.S. dollar-pegged token. Stablecoins are a $160 billion market currently and a key piece of infrastructure in the crypto economy used for trading and payments on blockchains. The market is currently dominated by the two largest stablecoins, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. Broker Bernstein forecasted that the market could grow to $2.8 trillion by 2028.

Sandor covers U.S. markets with a focus on stablecoins and institutional investment. He holds BTC and ETH.