Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin Countdown: Will Ripple Splurge on Marketing Strategies to Gain Market Share?
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed during a blockchain event in South Korea this week that the RLUSD stablecoin pegged to the US dollar is set to launch in the coming weeks and is currently in the testing phase. The question on everyone’s mind is whether Ripple will adopt an aggressive marketing campaign to secure a larger market share.
Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin: What You Need to Know
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the RLUSD stablecoin will be released soon, pegged to the US dollar. This new stablecoin, called Ripple USD (RLUSD), is being minted within this framework. Garlinghouse revealed that the idea for this token was formulated after the market-leading stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) lost its peg to the US dollar in March 2023, with a market capitalization of $34 billion. Ripple unveiled its stablecoin plans in April, stating that the token will be backed by “100% US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasury bonds, and other cash equivalents.”
RLUSD has been undergoing testing with corporate partners since early August and is planned for initial deployment on Ripple’s XRP Ledger and the Ethereum blockchain, following the ERC-20 standard. Bitget Research’s Chief Analyst Ryan Lee discussed the potential challenges that RLUSD may face. Lee highlighted that while Ripple plans to launch a stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, the network is still in its early stages, which could lead to skepticism about its practical applications and dampen market demand.
Additionally, Lee cited research from the Bank of England indicating that stablecoin usage outside the cryptocurrency ecosystem remains relatively limited, which could restrict the growth potential of Ripple’s stablecoin. Another key factor that could limit RLUSD demand is the dominance of Tether USDT and Circle USDC in the stablecoin market. According to data from The Block, USDT accounts for 70% of the total stablecoin supply, with a market value exceeding $118 billion, while USDC holds 21% of the market share, with a value close to $35 billion.
Data from CoinMarketCap shows that MakerDAO’s DAI, the third-ranked stablecoin, has a market value just over $5 billion. Given the similarity among various US dollar stablecoins, new projects often resort to subsidy policies to attract users. For instance, the stablecoin PYUSD issued by PayPal has seen its volume grow by over double in the past three months, largely due to substantial subsidies from collaborations with major DeFi protocols on Solana like Jupiter, ORCA, Wormhole, Drift Protocol, Kamino Finance, among others.
Therefore, the question remains whether Ripple will adopt similar strategies in the future and offer discounts to users. The outcomes of this approach are worth observing. Ripple’s recent acquisition of Standard Custody aims to strengthen its US dollar stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) business. Meanwhile, Tether’s CEO criticized Ripple’s CEO for spreading USDT panic remarks, hinting at Ripple’s legal entanglements and its interest in the stablecoin market. With the cryptocurrency market surpassing a total value of $5 trillion by the end of the year, Ripple’s CEO predicts that the introduction of ETFs combined with Bitcoin halving will have a significant impact.
