Ripple Labs is expanding its U.S. dollar-backed RLUSD cryptocurrency to Ethereum’s Layer 2 blockchains in a pilot, pending regulatory approval for full rollout next year.
In collaboration with Wormhole, a cross-chain interoperability protocol that enables the transfer of assets between different blockchains, the pilot will test RLUSD on the Optimism, Base, Ink and Unichain platforms, According to to Ripple’s statement on Monday.
Initially, RLUSD was issued on XRP and Ethereum exchanges; Ripple, however, said the latest expansion is “essential for a scalable, efficient and interoperable future.”
“The future of cryptocurrencies is undeniably multi-chain, and to truly serve both institutional finance and the growing onchain economy, stablecoins must exist wherever there is demand and utility.”
“As networks continue to evolve for real-world use, the demand for highly regulated stablecoins is greater than ever,” the Ripple team added.
RLUSD will avoid using wrapped copy on blockchains
Team Wormhole he said on Monday in a post on X that the Native Token Transfers standard will allow RLUSD to move between blockchains as a real token, as opposed to a synthetic or wrapped copy, which will aid maintain liquidity.
In some multi-chain setups, when a token is transferred, it is locked on the original blockchain while the wrapped version is minted on another.
“With NTT, token issuers eliminate the need for fragmented liquidity or closed assets by enabling a single, canonical version of RLUSD to exist natively on each blockchain, with contracts owned by Ripple,” the Wormhole team added.
More networks will join next year
According to Ripple, RLUSD will launch on additional networks next year, but the launch still requires final regulatory approval.
RLUSD is issued under the Modern York Department of Financial Services’ state Charter of Trust Company, and the company has also applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a federal bank trust charter to add federal oversight.
Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said stablecoins are “the gateway to DeFi and institutional adoption.”
“By launching RLUSD – the first U.S. custody-regulated stablecoin on L2 networks – we’re not just increasing usability; we’re setting the ultimate standard where onchain compliance and performance converge.”
RLUSD has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion
RLUSD, launched in December 2024, has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion, According to to the CoinGecko cryptographic data aggregator.
Related: Less than a year after its debut, Ripple’s RLUSD enters the top 10 USD stablecoins
By comparison, the largest stablecoin, Tether’s USDT, has a market capitalization of $186 billion, USDC Circle has a market capitalization of $78 billion, and Sky Protocol’s USDS is the third largest at $9.8 billion.
RLUSD has gained popularity among retail users, particularly thanks to integration with platforms such as Transak and growing operate in self-service wallets such as Xaman.
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