Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has made a significant move by listing Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on its platform. This development has the potential to fundamentally change the market hierarchy and consolidate RLUSD’s rapid growth over the past year.
The listing of RLUSD on Binance is not just a straightforward stock market announcement, but rather a strategic move that could alter the way the market routes value. By waiving fees for trading pairs, Binance is essentially subsidizing adoption and creating an environment for sustained net issuance, which could propel RLUSD to the top three stablecoins in a rapidly growing market.
Understanding the Mechanics of the Binance Listing
The specific mechanics of the Binance listing suggest a quest for dominance rather than mere participation. By opening spot trading pairs, including RLUSD/USDT, RLUSD/U, and XRP/RLUSD, Binance is providing a fee-free platform for traders, which could transform the market share of RLUSD on centralized exchanges. Historical data from Kaiko’s analysis of stablecoin dynamics on Binance provides a precedent for disrupting these numbers, where the exchange’s decision to relist USDC in March 2023 led to a significant increase in the token’s market share.
This shift in market share is not necessarily a result of the asset’s inherent superiority but rather a consequence of Binance making it the cheapest and most convenient option, with the market following the incentives. However, this also poses a warning for Ripple’s stablecoin, as incentives can quickly provide high liquidity but may also stimulate activity that disappears after the subsidy expires.
The Path to the Top Three
For RLUSD to break into the top three, two different “flywheels” must spin in sequence. The first is routing acceptance, where zero fees encourage market makers and high-frequency switches to quote tighter spreads and drive more flows through RLUSD pairs. This improves the experience for all participants by deepening the order book, reducing slippage, and ensuring more reliable execution.
The second flywheel is balance sheet adoption, where market cap only grows when RLUSD is actually held, be it as exchange collateral, in DeFi lending markets, or in treasury allocations. Binance is creating the environment for this by expanding the RLUSD utility, including portfolio margin permission and inclusion in Binance Earn, which would provide users with high-yield incentives to hold the asset instead of simply trading it.
The Mathematics Behind the Rise
Despite this strategic focus, the numerical gap that RLUSD must close to enter the top three is significant. Data from CryptoSlate shows that RLUSD has around $1.4 billion in circulating supply, making it one of the ten largest stablecoins by market capitalization, but well behind the market leaders USDT from Tether and USDC from Circle. To break through the “top 3 stablecoins,” RLUSD would need about $5.1 billion in new circulation to displace Ethena’s USDe, whose supply stands at about $6.47 billion.
Over a 12-month period, achieving this benchmark would require net new RLUSD issuance of approximately $424 million per month. These are big numbers that would require RLUSD to grow four to seven times from its current base within a relatively narrow time frame. However, macroeconomic tailwinds could support this rise, with the US Treasury arguing that the stablecoin market could grow tenfold by the end of the decade, and JPMorgan predicting that stablecoins could reach $2 trillion in value within two years under a bullish adoption scenario.
Institutional Plumbing Instead of Retail Hype
While the Binance listing provides the liquidity boost, Ripple’s best argument for the top 3 relies on institutional plumbing. Over the past two years, Ripple has assembled a stack that more closely resembles that of a payments and capital markets infrastructure provider than a typical crypto issuer. The foundation for any potential growth is a regulatory stance that has resulted in RLUSD being issued pursuant to a New York DFS Limited Purpose Trust Company Charter, with Ripple also receiving conditional approval for an OCC charter.
This two-tier state and federal oversight sets standards for transparency and compliance that few other issuers can claim. For corporate treasurers and bank compliance officers, this regulatory framework is often more important than brand recognition. Perhaps the most direct catalyst for continued institutional adoption is that Ripple has quietly positioned itself at the center of the global payments network as a platform that settles, secures, and moves digital money.
A Vertically Integrated Business
Last year, Ripple had a $4 billion acquisition spree that included the purchase of prime broker Hidden Road, custodian Palisade, treasury management platform GTreasury, and stablecoin payments provider Rail. These firms form the foundation of a vertically integrated business that includes trading, custody, payments, and liquidity management. This move essentially extends RLUSD’s growth path beyond crypto exchange wallets, moving the asset into multi-asset margin and funding flows where stablecoin balances can be scaled quickly.
A Stress Test
There is still a risk that trading volume can be established, but an introduction is not possible. Binance’s own spot market has cooled recently, with CoinDesk Data reporting that spot volume fell to $367 billion in December 2025, its lowest level since September 2024. But even at this reduced level, Binance remains large enough that a fee subsidy can reshape liquidity distribution.
The ultimate danger with this move is that RLUSD could become a “cheap rail” but not a “held asset.” If trading volume explodes but circulating supply barely grows, the market will have its answer: Binance can create liquidity, but not necessarily sustained adoption. For RLUSD to credibly compete for the top three, the story needs to evolve from “listed and traded” to “used and held.”
Read more about the potential impact of Binance’s listing of RLUSD on the stablecoin market and its potential to catapult into a top 3 asset at Cryptoslate.
