Ripple's RLUSD Stablecoin Launching December 17 Post-NYDFS Approval; CTO Warns of Supply Shortages, Early Bids Top $1,200

Dec 16, 2024, 04:02 PM

Ripple is set to launch its new US dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, on December 17, following approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) under a limited purpose trust company license. RLUSD will be fully backed by USD deposits and government bonds, with independent auditing agencies providing monthly attestations of its reserves. The stablecoin will operate on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains. Ripple's Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz warned of potential supply shortages at launch and advised investors against succumbing to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), noting that early bids for RLUSD have spiked significantly, with one trader reportedly offering $1,200 for a single RLUSD. The stablecoin is designed to maintain its $1 peg, and early volatility is expected to normalize. RLUSD will initially be available on global exchanges including Uphold, MoonPay, Bitstamp, Bitso, CoinMENA, and Archax Exchange, with plans for additional listings on platforms such as Bullish in the coming weeks. RLUSD is expected to support use cases like cross-border payments and decentralized finance integration, and may significantly boost demand for XRP in 2025. Ripple plans to facilitate global payments on behalf of enterprise customers using RLUSD starting in early 2025.