MiCA-Ready RLUSD Hits Transaction Milestone: 33,000+ in Half-Year

Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin is emerging as a formidable entity in the European cryptocurrency arena. Its swift rise coincides with a critical period of regulatory change across the EU, particularly influenced by the new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.

CryptoQuant's recent analysis reveals that RLUSD has processed 33,953 transactions on the XRP Ledger and 1,690 on Ethereum since its test phase commenced in June 2024.

This surge in transaction volume underscores RLUSD's compliance with regulatory standards, a feat that positions it advantageously after the EU's MiCA regulations took effect.

The phase-out of Tether's stablecoins in Europe due to compliance issues paves the way for RLUSD to capture the market. Analysts at CryptoQuant suggest that RLUSD could step in as a MiCA-compliant option, thus driving further adoption and transaction activity.

Tether (USDT) recently experienced a notable decline, its steepest weekly market cap drop since the post-FTX collapse in November 2022. This downturn was partly due to MiCA regulations prompting several EU exchanges to exclude USDT, which faces compliance hurdles. While non-custodial wallet holding remains unaffected for EU traders, trading on MiCA-compliant exchanges is now restricted. Nonetheless, experts maintain that USDT's market dominance remains largely unthreatened.

RLUSD debuted in the market in mid-December, following regulatory approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Its inception was meticulously planned, reflecting an effort to enrich Ripple's cross-border payments strategy. Pegged to the US dollar at a precise 1:1 ratio, it has rapidly gained traction on exchanges like Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, Moonpay, and CoinMENA. Recently, Bullish, a crypto exchange supported by Peter Thiel, adopted RLUSD, expanding trading pair options, including RLUSD/USDC and BTC/RLUSD.

In the backdrop, Ripple's CTO, David Schwartz, advised against the hype surrounding RLUSD’s launch.

Addressing online speculation, he cited potential price distortions, highlighting an instance where RLUSD reached $1,200 on Xaman due to speculative actions and limited supply. Schwartz assured the community that such anomalies would quickly resolve through arbitrage, thereby upholding RLUSD’s $1 peg.