The Crypto Desk desk. Editor: Sam Daodu.
Ripple USD (CRYPTO:RLUSD), Ripple’s stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar, has surpassed PayPal USD (CRYPTO:PYUSD) in market value, reaching approximately $2.69 billion compared with PYUSD’s current $2.61 billion. PYUSD is the stablecoin offered by PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL | PYPL Price Prediction). Data from DefiLlama confirms this order, showing RLUSD at about $2.69 billion and PYUSD at around $2.57 billion.
Despite this achievement, XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) has shown minimal movement, trading at $1.02—up just 0.1% in the past 24 hours and down 13.4% over the last week. This level is below its November 12 close, which was already a 30-day low. Meanwhile, XRP funds have experienced outflows. So, what does a larger RLUSD mean for XRP holders?
Ripple’s Regulatory Edge Lifts RLUSD, and the Revenue Goes to Ripple
As a stablecoin, RLUSD is designed to maintain a stable value of $1, and each token is backed by cash and short-term U.S. government debt. RLUSD has stayed close to its $1 peg throughout the year, so its growth past PYUSD comes from more tokens in circulation, not price appreciation. PYUSD is also a modest benchmark, since Tether’s and Circle’s dollar-backed tokens remain far larger.
RLUSD’s main advantage lies in Ripple’s regulatory framework. Standard Custody & Trust Company, Ripple’s trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, issues RLUSD. On October 26, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank, which can manage RLUSD’s reserves and act as collateral trustee for holders, according to Ripple. BNY (NYSE:BK) serves as the primary custodian for these reserves.
A federal charter means that a national bank regulator oversees the reserves, a requirement many banks and corporate treasurers have before touching a stablecoin. The Independent Community Bankers of America publicly opposed this charter on October 27, a sign that traditional banks see Ripple as competition.
Ripple generates revenue by providing a range of services, including payments, custody, prime brokerage, treasury management, and over-the-counter trading, according to its October 28 release. Prime brokerage lets large traders borrow, clear, and settle trades across various exchanges, and Ripple says RLUSD already serves as collateral within Ripple Prime. Ripple is a private company, so it doesn’t release audited financial statements.
RLUSD Can Keep Growing Without Any Help From XRP
Ripple hasn’t issued a press release marking RLUSD’s pass, and its recent RLUSD announcements don’t name XRP as the asset settling RLUSD transactions. That means RLUSD can circulate among banks, exchanges, and traders without anyone buying XRP, as in Cross River Bank’s RLUSD deal. The trust bank release mentions XRP only once, in Ripple’s standard company description.
A significant portion of RLUSD also lives outside the XRP Ledger. Data from RWA.xyz in August showed Ethereum holding slightly more RLUSD than the XRP Ledger, with the two networks nearly even. Ryan Sachs, whose firm handles RLUSD flows for Ripple and is a business partner, said in an interview, “RLUSD flows for us started on Ethereum since we already support it. XRP Ledger support will follow.”
When RLUSD runs on the XRP Ledger, XRP takes on a specific role. Ayo Akinyele described XRP as “a bridge asset” for the ledger’s exchange that also pays transaction fees and “can be used as collateral.” Those roles describe how XRP can be used, but RLUSD holders on Ethereum never touch XRP.
Lending on the XRP Ledger could change this. The official XRP Ledger website lists lending as “Open for Voting,” and an amendment only takes effect after a majority of validators back it for at least two weeks, so XRP-backed lending is still in the planning stages. However, development activity remains high, with the XRP Ledger Foundation reporting over 1.7 million developer requests per day through public node access via Ankr.
Price data shows how loosely the two assets are tied. RLUSD’s market cap grew about 112% between January 1 and today, November 13, while XRP fell 44.5% over about the same stretch, a split that echoes how tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger grew without lifting the price.
Will RLUSD’s Success Boost XRP’s Price?
The answer is likely no. Ripple gets a bigger regulated dollar product, more customers, and more appeal to banks, while XRP gains only the transaction fees RLUSD pays on the XRP Ledger and any added XRP-paired trading. XRP holders hope RLUSD draws institutions to the ledger, where lending could let XRP serve as collateral. On the other hand, a regulated digital dollar now performs the bridging job Ripple once pitched XRP for.
Two indicators could settle it. If lending moves from open for voting to enabled on xrpl.org and XRP climbs back above its 20-day average of $1.21 within the next month, RLUSD’s progress could finally translate into value for the coin. However, if RLUSD keeps growing while XRP stays below its 50-day average of $1.34, the split seen in 2026’s numbers will likely hold.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
