TL;DR
Ripple plans to release its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), pegged to the US dollar, by the end of 2024, primarily for institutional use.While beta testing has begun, the product is not yet publicly available. CTO David Schwartz dismissed concerns about potential misuse during early phases.What’s New?
Ripple made waves earlier this earlier when announcing it will jump on the stablecoin bandwagon. So far, the team has revealed that the product will be called Ripple USD (RLUSD) and will be pegged to the American dollar. The company aims to launch it before the end of 2024 and it will be available on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum.
Most recently, David Schwartz (Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer) shed more light on the upcoming initiative. He said RLUSD “will probably” only be available directly to institutions. “Can you get USDC from Circle or USD from Tether, because I can’t,” the exec added.
Despite agreeing with that comment, one X user wondered how the stablecoin will be protected in the short to mid terms with authorized trustlines. The enthusiast also warned that RLUSD may become part of the international money laundering network and facilitate other illegal activities.
Schwartz claimed this scenario isn’t likely to happen “except maybe in very early test phases before anyone is really using it to more or store value.”
The Progress so Far
Ripple started private beta testing for the forthcoming product earlier this summer, describing the effort as a “significant milestone“ that could drive “new opportunities, liquidity, and institutional use cases for users, developers, and applications.”
In August, the team minted the first 185 RLUSD, while several days later, it burned the stash. Some X users speculated that this could mark the end of the beta testing phase, meaning the product is ready to see the light of day any minute.
Nonetheless, RLUSD remains unavailable for trading or purchase at this point. Ripple’s team also alerted users to pay extra attention as they might become victims of bad actors who “may exploit Ripple’s brand and purport to have early access to sell Ripple USD.”