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RLUSD Enters Top Five Stablecoins In The US
RLUSD, a US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple, has marked its first anniversary, notching impressive numbers in under 12 months. Launched on December 17, 2024, the RLUSD has inched its way into conversations for leading stablecoins.
According to Standard Custody CEO Jack McDonald, Ripple has joined the top five stablecoins, reaching the milestone in “record time.” While not expressly stated, McDonald’s comments in an X post refer to the category of US-regulated stablecoins, specifically those with OCC and NYDFS licenses.
Under this subset, Ripple’s RLUSD ranks in third place behind Circle’s USDC and PayPal’s PYUSD with market capitalizations of $78 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively. One year after launch, Ripple’s market capitalization sits at $1.3 billion, making it “one of the fastest climbs in the regulated stablecoin space.”
“I’m excited to celebrate the one-year anniversary of RLUSD,” said McDonald. “We’ve gone from 0 to a top 5 USD stablecoin in record time.”
 
However, CoinMarketCap data ranks RLUSD eighth by market capitalization, including both US-regulated and offshore stablecoins.
A Streak Of Milestones For the Ripple-Backed Stablecoins
Apart from its frenetic surge over one year, RLUSD racked up impressive milestones along the way. Right off the bat, the OCC’s conditional approval of Ripple’s National Trust Bank charter puts RLUSD in pole position for regulatory compliance.
To cement its place in the enterprise market, Ripple tapped BNY Global to custody RLUSD reserves and enlisted Deloitte for attestations as an added layer of credibility. Outside the US, RLUSD has received regulatory approvals in key jurisdictions such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
All year long, RLUSD has been cementing its place as a major bridge for real-world assets (RWA). The stablecoin offers BlackRock and VanEck’s tokenised funds with a 24/7 off-ramp, extending its institutional use case.
Meanwhile, plans for multichain expansion are underway with Ripple pursuing interoperability on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain.
“It was undeniably the year of the stablecoin, and I can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store,” said McDonald.