On Dec. 10, 2024, the New York Department of Financial Services approved Ripple’s new stablecoin, RLUSD, on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains.
A week later, on Dec. 17, RLUSD officially launched, becoming available on five crypto exchanges: Uphold, MoonPay, Archax, Bitso, and CoinMENA. Its availability has now widened to include prominent names like Peter Thiel-backed Bullish and Singapore-based Independent Reserve.
RLUSD Is Now Live On Bullish, Independent Reserve
The Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin has officially started trading on institutional crypto exchange Bullish. Beginning today, investors in eligible regions will be able to trade seven markets. These markets include RLUSD/USDC, BTC/RLUSD, XRP/RLUSD, ETH/RLUSD, USD/RLUSD, EUR/RLUSD, and SOL/RLUSD.
Pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, RLUSD was earlier launched on the XRPL and Ethereum blockchains and is fully backed by U.S. dollar reserves, government bonds, and cash equivalents.
Earlier today, the stablecoin was also listed by the Singapore-headquartered exchange Independent Reserve. This marks the first time RLUSD has been listed on a Singapore-based platform, drawing substantial attention from the crypto market.
Ripple is joining a competitive sector of stablecoin providers that include other well-established crypto firms like Tether and Circle. Payments fintech startup PayPal also rolled out its own dollar-pegged stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD). With a market cap of nearly $140 billion, Tether is presently the undisputed stablecoin market leader.
RLUSD currently boasts a market cap of $72.4 million, making it the 696th largest crypto by market value, CoinGecko data shows.
Is XRP Gearing Up For A Santa Claus Rally?
Meanwhile, Ripple’s XRP was one of the cryptos that suffered big hits after the most recent market pullback. Its price slumped to under $2 only three days after hitting $2.90, its highest level since January 2018. The bulls have been able to recover some ground over the past couple of days, with XRP currently changing hands for $2.33, marking a 7.8% jump on the day.
In a Dec. 24 post, popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez revealed that big whales scooped up around 40 million tokens in the past 24 hours. Earlier on Dec. 20, Martinez had noted that whales had stacked up on an additional 80 million coins in the span of three days.
The actions of such large investors reduce the circulating supply of XRP, which could trigger an explosive price rally, assuming demand remains constant or skyrockets. Huge whale purchases could also spur excitement among smaller investors, who could also jump on the bandwagon, therefore creating further upward pressure on the price in the near term.
If the bulls continue to dominate the price action, XRP will likely continue to rise. A break above the $3 barrier could see the Ripple-linked token aim for $5.
