Ripple's RLUSD Gains Regulatory Approval, XRP Pumps But Crashes With Market
Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD, has received regulatory approval, triggering a pump in XRP's price.
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, announced on X that the firm had gained approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) yesterday.
This just in…we have final approval from @NYDFS for $RLUSD! Exchange and partner listings will be live soon – and reminder: when RLUSD is live, you’ll hear it from @Ripple first.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 10, 2024
Following the announcement, XRP spiked by 10%, before declining along with the rest of the market and slipping below $2. Nonetheless, XRP has recovered well and is overall up close to 10% over 24 hours.
Bitcoin displayed similar behaviour, dropping as low as $94K before rebounding back to the $97K level. Over 24 hours, the leading cryptocurrency is up slightly over 1% - far less than XRP.
RLUSD's approval comes one week after Ripple announced a delay of its stablecoin, citing regulatory commitments.
"Despite some speculation, $RLUSD isn’t launching today," Ripple tweeted last week. "We’re in lockstep with the NYDFS on final approval and will share updates as soon as possible."
Announced in April, RLUSD is 100% backed by USD deposits, short-term US government treasuries, and other cash equivalents.
Ripple said its stablecoin will be enterprise-grade and compliance-first. RLUSD will join the growing list of USD-backed stablecoins with the stablecoin market expected to grow to over $2.8 trillion by 2028. Both XRP, Ripple's native token, and RLUSD will be used in its cross-border payment solutions.
Uphold, Bistamp, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA, and Bullish will all offer RLUSD, while leading market makers including B2C2 and Keyrock will support the liquidity of RLUSD.
Garlinghouse recently made his debut on CBS's 60 Minutes but his appearance has been shrouded in controversy after the disgruntled Ripple CEO revealed the show omitted certain important information.
During the 60 Minutes interview, host Margaret Brennan mentioned how Ripple has spent over $150 million fighting the SEC's claim that XRP is an unregistered security.
However, Garlinghouse took to X to say the show "shockingly left out that a Federal Judge ruled that XRP is not a security."