Tokenization and Blockchain Innovations Drive Data Security

Ripple Labs is expanding its US dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD to Ethereum layer-2 blockchains as part of a pilot while it awaits regulatory approval for a full rollout next year. In partnership with Wormhole, a crosschain interoperability protocol, the pilot will test RLUSD on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain.

Initially issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, Ripple stated that the latest expansion is essential for a scalable, efficient, and interoperable future. The company emphasized that the future of crypto is multichain, and stablecoins must be available wherever there is demand.

RLUSD will avoid using wrapped copies across blockchains, as the Wormhole team noted that its Native Token Transfers standard will allow RLUSD to move across blockchains as the real token. This eliminates the need for fragmented liquidity, allowing a single version of RLUSD to exist natively on each blockchain, with Ripple owning the contracts.

More chains are set to come next year, pending final regulatory approval. RLUSD is issued under the New York Department of Financial Services Trust Company Charter, and Ripple has also applied for a federal trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, stated that stablecoins are the gateway to DeFi and institutional adoption. Currently, RLUSD has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion, having launched in December 2024.

In comparison, the top stablecoin, Tether's USDT, has a market cap of $186 billion, followed by Circle's USDC at $78 billion, and Sky Protocol's USDS at $9.8 billion. RLUSD has gained traction among retail users, particularly through integrations with platforms like Transak and growing adoption across self-custodial wallets like Xaman.