Ripple Expands US Dollar-Backed Stablecoin to Ethereum Layer 2 Blockchains
Ripple Labs is expanding its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, to Ethereum Layer 2 blockchains as part of a pilot, awaiting regulatory approval for a full launch next year. In collaboration with Wormhole, a cross-chain interoperability protocol, the pilot will test RLUSD on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, Ripple said in a statement on Monday.
Originally, RLUSD was issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum; however, Ripple said the latest expansion is “essential to a scalable, efficient, and interoperable future.” The company believes that the future of cryptocurrency is undeniably multi-chain, and to truly serve both institutional finance and the growing on-chain economy, stablecoins must exist wherever demand and utility exist. 
Source: Ripple
RLUSD to Maintain Liquidity Across Blockchains
The Wormhole team said in an X post on Monday that its native token transfer standard will allow RLUSD to move across blockchains as a true token, as opposed to a synthetic or wrapped copy, which will help maintain liquidity. In some multichain setups, a token is locked in its original blockchain upon transfer, while a packaged copy version is minted in another. 
Source: Wormhole
With Wormhole’s native token transfer standard, token issuers eliminate the need for fragmented liquidity or wrapped assets, allowing a single, canonical version of RLUSD to exist natively on any blockchain, with Ripple owning the contracts. This approach ensures that RLUSD will avoid the use of wrapped copies across blockchains, maintaining its value and utility.
Future Expansion and Regulatory Approval
According to Ripple, RLUSD will launch on subsequent chains next year, but the launch is still subject to final regulatory approval. RLUSD is issued under the New York Department of Financial Services’ state trust company charter, while the company has also applied for a federal trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to ensure 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 US Trust Regulated stablecoin on these L2 networks – Ripple is not just expanding utility; it is setting the definitive standard where compliance and on-chain efficiency converge.
RLUSD’s Market Performance
According to crypto data aggregator CoinGecko, RLUSD, which launched in December 2024, has a market cap of $1.3 billion. In comparison, the top stablecoin, Tether’s USDT, has a market cap of $186 billion, Circle’s USDC has a market cap of $78 billion, and Sky Protocol’s USDS is the third largest at $9.8 billion.
RLUSD has gained traction among retail users, particularly through integration with platforms like Transak and increasing adoption among self-custody wallets like Xaman. For more information, visit https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-rlusd-multichain-ethereum-l2s-wormhole
