Revolut, the London-based fintech company, might soon join San Francisco-based blockchain payments firm Ripple in the competitive world of stablecoins.
According to reports, Revolut is planning to launch its stablecoin as part of plans to expand its digital asset offerings. As of press time, however, a specific launch date for the proposed stablecoin has not yet been announced.
Revolut Pushes Deeper Into Crypto With Stablecoin Launch
Revolut is set to roll out its own stablecoin.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the company is relatively far along in developing the stablecoin. This significant milestone marks a pivotal moment for Revolut as it enhances its crypto offerings.
In the crypto world, stablecoins are typically backed by a physical asset, such as commodities like gold or fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, which help the asset maintain a relatively consistent price.
An important aspect of Revolut’s strategy is its commitment to a “compliance-first” approach. It seeks to ensure that its stablecoin is a safe harbor for the entire crypto community.
“Crypto is a big part of our belief in banking without borders, and we have a clear mission to become the safest and most accessible provider of crypto asset services,” the company’s representative stated.
Notably, Revolut has been making huge strides in the fast-growing crypto space. In March this year, the firm revealed that it had integrated with Metamask for direct in-app cryptocurrency purchases for customers in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA).
More recently in May, the firm launched a dedicated crypto exchange dubbed “Revolut X” for its UK retail customers. The platform claimed to offer cost-efficient and seamless fiat-to-crypto conversions.
Stablecoin Wars Are Heating Up
Revolut has become the latest major player in the $164 stablecoin market. PayPal launched its US dollar-pegged stablecoin, PayPal USD, in 2023. U.S.-regulated crypto brokerage company Paxos issues PayPal USD, which is redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.
In May, PayPal’s stablecoin debuted on Solana, teaming up with Crypto.com, Phantom, and Paxos to onboard users to the blockchain. At the time, the global payments behemoth said it picked Solana due to its high speeds and extremely low costs.
Meanwhile, Ripple CEO Bradley Garlinghouse earlier this month hinted that the company’s stablecoin, RLUSD, will go live in the coming weeks. RLUSD will be fully backed by U.S. dollar assets and will initially operate on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchain.
And today, Goldman Sachs-backed crypto custodian BitGo announced its plans to launch a dollar-backed stablecoin, USDS, in January 2025. BitGo will set itself apart from other stablecoin issuers in the crowded market by deploying a novel reward system that would give up to 98% of earnings to institutions that provide liquidity to the network.
