XRP token issuer Ripple Labs is extending its US dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, to several Ethereum layer-2 networks through a pilot program, as it waits for regulatory clearance for a broader launch planned for next year. The initiative is being carried out in collaboration with Wormhole, a crosschain interoperability protocol that enables assets to move across blockchains.

As part of the pilot, RLUSD will be tested on Optimism, Base, Ink, which is Kraken’s Ethereum layer-2 network, and Unichain. Ripple noted that while RLUSD was originally issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet, this next phase of expansion is viewed as a necessary step toward building a more scalable and interoperable ecosystem.

“The future of crypto is undeniably multichain, and to truly serve both institutional finance and the growing onchain economy, stablecoins must exist wherever demand and utility are.” The company added that as blockchain networks increasingly target real-world use cases, demand for a tightly regulated stablecoin continues to grow.

Native transfers instead of wrapped tokens

According to Wormhole, the pilot will use its Native Token Transfers (NTT) standard, allowing RLUSD to move between blockchains as the same underlying asset rather than as wrapped or synthetic versions. This approach is intended to avoid fragmented liquidity, a common issue in multichain environments where tokens are locked on one chain and mirrored on another.

“With NTT, token issuers eliminate the need for fragmented liquidity or wrapped assets, allowing a single, canonical version of RLUSD to exist natively on each blockchain with Ripple owning the contracts,” the Wormhole team said.

Regulatory path and market positioning

Ripple stated that additional blockchain integrations are planned for next year, subject to final regulatory approval. RLUSD is currently issued under a New York Department of Financial Services Trust Company Charter, and Ripple has also applied for a federal trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to bring the stablecoin under federal oversight.

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president of stablecoins, described stablecoins as a critical entry point for both decentralized finance and institutional participation.

“By launching RLUSD—the first US Trust Regulated stablecoin on these L2 networks—we are not just expanding utility; we are setting the definitive standard where compliance and onchain efficiency converge.”

Since its launch in December 2024, RLUSD has reached a market capitalization of roughly $1.3 billion, according to CoinGecko.

While this remains modest compared with leaders such as Tether’s USDT at $186 billion and Circle’s USDC at $78 billion, RLUSD has steadily gained traction, particularly among retail users via integrations with services like Transak and increased usage across self-custodial wallets such as Xaman.

Sources:

https://ripple.com/insights/ripple-usd-rlusd-expands-to-l2s-with-wormhole-ntt-standard/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-rlusd-multichain-ethereum-l2s-wormhole

https://x.com/wormhole/status/2000567871848714310

https://x.com/wormhole/status/2000567884347740620

https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/stablecoins

https://x.com/Ripple/status/2000566786035425363