Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is gaining traction in the European crypto landscape.
The MiCA-compatible token has benefited greatly from the strategic launch at a time when the blockchain is undergoing major regulatory change.
RLUSD Finds Opportunity in USDT’s European Fall
According to CryptoQuant analysis, RLUSD has already processed 33,953 transactions on the XRP Ledger and 1,690 on Ethereum since testing began in June 2024.
This strong increase in transaction volume aligns with RLUSD’s design as a regulatory-compliant asset, positioning it advantageously under the European Union’s recently implemented Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations.
With the delisting of Tether’s stablecoins in Europe due to the breach, CryptoQuant analyst believes RLUSD is poised to fill the void as a MiCA-compatible stablecoin, which could drive further growth in adoption and transaction activity.
The latest development comes after Tether (USDT) saw its biggest weekly market cap drop in the first week of January, to a level not seen since the FTX collapse in November 2022.
The drop follows the MiCA regulations, which led several EU exchanges to delist USDT due to compliance issues. While EU traders can hold USDT in non-custodial wallets, trading on MiCA-compatible exchanges is restricted. Despite market speculation, experts argue that the delisting will not harm USDT’s dominance.
RLUSD Strategic Launch
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin was launched in mid-December after receiving regulatory clearance from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), following a period of extensive testing and preparation. Pegged to the US dollar at a ratio of 1:1, RLUSD is a key component of the blockchain company’s strategy to increase its cross-border payments.
It has quickly been adopted by several exchanges, including Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, Moonpay and CoinMENA. Recently, Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by Peter Thiel, also integrated RLUSD, introducing trading pairs such as RLUSD/USDC, BTC/RLUSD, XRP/RLUSD, ETH/RLUSD, USD/RLUSD, EUR/RLUSD and SOL/RLUSD.
Meanwhile, Ripple CTO David Schwartz had previously warned against FOMO surrounding the launch of RLUSD. Addressing concerns on social media, Schwartz highlighted potential price anomalies, citing an instance where RLUSD was priced at $1,200 on the Xaman platform due to speculative behavior and limited supply during the initial launch. The executive then assured the community that these deviations would be quickly stabilized through arbitration, reaffirming RLUSD’s $1 peg.
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