Ripple Labs has announced the launch of Ripple USD (RLUSD), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. It is expected that this cryptocurrency will receive approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and will become available on December 4. The launch of RLUSD comes amid Ripple’s long-running battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is seeking to prove that the XRP token is an unregistered security.
Ripple first announced plans to launch RLUSD in April. To ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, in June, the company acquired Standard Custody & Trust Company, which is already licensed by the NYDFS to provide cryptocustodial services. This company will become the issuer of RLUSD.
In August, RLUSD started testing on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains. In October, Ripple announced the partnership with leading crypto exchanges, including Uphold, Bitstamp, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA, and Bullish, to ensure that RLUSD is available to a wide range of users.Due to the lack of federal regulations in the field of stablecoins, Ripple has chosen to launch under state-level rules. The company has the opportunity to obtain a BitLicense or a special trust company license to operate legally in the market.
Ripple emphasized that RLUSD will be used alongside XRP in international payment solutions and has committed to regularly conducting independent audits of RLUSD reserves and publishing monthly reports (a stone in the garden of Tether). This is aimed at ensuring user trust and transparency.
Amid this news, the value of the XRP cryptocurrency jumped by 93.14% to $2.70 over the week. In addition, the token ranked 3rd in terms of market capitalization ($154.67 billion) for the first time in several years.
According to the estimates of JPMorganRipple’s introduction could free up more than $120 billion that is currently stuck in legacy payment systems. This could make XRP an important element of the global financial infrastructure and further increase its value. For example, a well-known crypto analyst Dark Defender predicts that XRP could reach $18.22.