Ripple Unveils Initial Exchange Partners for Its RLUSD Stablecoin

San Francisco-based payments company Ripple Labs announces the initial exchange partners for its upcoming USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD. 

Ripple announced the development today at the opening session of its annual conference, Ripple Swell 2024. The partners include MoonPay, Bitso, Bitstamp, Uphold, Independent Reserve, Bullish, and CoinMENA. 

The leading payments company confirmed the development in an X post today, noting that users and institutions of these exchanges can gain access to the stablecoin once the token receives the necessary approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Today at #RippleSwell, we’re proud to announce our Ripple USD exchange partners.

Upon regulatory approval, $RLUSD will be globally available for institutions and users from @UpholdInc, @BitStamp, @Bitso, @Moonpay, @Indereserve, @CoinMENA, and @Bullish. https://t.co/iZ7L1MHpn3

— Ripple (@Ripple) October 15, 2024

Besides the initial exchange partners of RLUSD, market makers like Keyrock and B2C2 are expected to support the stablecoin’s liquidity. 

RLUSD Aims to be the Gold Standard of Stablecoins 

Commenting on the development, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed optimism about RLUSD’s upcoming launch. 

According to him, Ripple aims to make RLUSD the gold standard for enterprise-grade stablecoins due to its regulatory compliance, growing demand, and cross-border payments utility. 

Top Finance Execs Join RLUSD Advisory Board 

Interestingly, the company has established an advisory board for the USD-pegged stablecoin. The board features prominent financial industry players, including Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen, former JPMorgan executive David Ruth, and former FDIC chair Sheila Bair. 

These executives will help guide RLUSD’s launch into the market. In the meantime, crypto enthusiasts are awaiting the mainnet launch of the stablecoin. The stablecoin is currently in private beta on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum. 

Despite being in private beta for over two months, Ripple has yet to announce the date it plans to launch the stablecoin on the mainnet. 

Last month, Garlinghouse revealed during a fireside chat at the Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul that the stablecoin will roll out in the coming weeks, not months. His comment suggests that the stablecoin’s mainnet launch is imminent and could happen before the end of this year. 

Ahead of the launch, Ripple has continued to mint millions of RLUSD tokens on Ethereum and XRPL.