Why Ripple’s RLUSD Growth Highlights Ethereum, Not XRPL, as the Real Winner

Ripple’s RLUSD surged to a market capitalization of almost $789 million, cementing itself as considered one of the fastest-growing belongings in 2025. Launched in late 2024 to energy cross-border funds, tokenization, and DeFi purposes, the US greenback stablecoin has attracted main institutional gamers like DBS and Franklin Templeton.

Yet beneath the headline development lies the neglected actuality that the majority of RLUSD’s provide lives on Ethereum, not the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Ethereum Dominates RLUSD Supply

According to DefiLlama, greater than $700 million of RLUSD or about 88% of its complete provide, sits on Ethereum. Meanwhile, lower than $90 million circulates on XRPL, Ripple’s native blockchain.

Despite Ripple’s framing of XRPL as the core infrastructure for RLUSD, new issuances since early 2025 have virtually completely launched on Ethereum.

This shift has sparked unease amongst XRP holders who lengthy believed that stablecoin adoption would immediately translate into greater demand for XRP.

Since each transaction on XRPL requires charges in XRP, traders anticipated RLUSD development to drive burns and improve token utility. Instead, the bulk of exercise bypasses XRPL altogether.

RLUSD adoption, such as by renewable vitality agency VivoPower, could solely have a restricted impact on XRP. Why? XRP performs no function in RLUSD transactions on Ethereum.

“Although Ripple points RLUSD on each the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum, the majority of its provide has been minted on Ethereum,” wrote a well-liked account on X (Twitter).

Chainlink group liaison Zach Rynes echoed the sentiment, indicating that XRP’s burn charge from RLUSD transactions is minuscule in comparison with complete provide.

“RLUSD largely displaces the want for XRP for cross-border transactions. Over 80% of RLUSD is on Ethereum. Ethereum doesn’t use XRP. XRP holders don’t obtain income from RLUSD,” wrote Rynes.

Ripple’s Strategic Dilemma Amid RLUSD’s Limited Impact on XRP

Ripple has pitched RLUSD as a bridge between traditional and decentralized finance (TradFi and DeFi), with use circumstances increasing into tokenized cash market funds and repo trades.

Its partnerships with DBS, Franklin Templeton, SBI Holdings, and African fintechs have boosted adoption, pushing the stablecoin’s market cap up tenfold in 2025 to $789.44 million as of this writing.

However, RLUSD’s Ethereum-heavy footprint challenges Ripple’s narrative that XRPL stays the spine of its ecosystem.

“A protracted-time XRP holder found that RLUSD lives on Ethereum. He was in awe and puzzled what the level of Ripple was. He later swapped his XRP for LINK and ETH,” wrote consumer jfab.eth.

Ripple additionally faces stiff competitors. Despite its rise, RLUSD nonetheless trails rivals like PayPal’s PYUSD, BlackRock’s BUIDL, and the WLF stablecoin in market capitalization.

While Ethereum integration unlocks DeFi liquidity, it additionally means Ripple’s flagship product grows in methods that don’t immediately help XRP holders.

For a group that has lengthy anticipated XRP utility positive aspects from Ripple’s improvements, the revelation that 88% of RLUSD is on Ethereum sparks equal elements disillusionment and debate.

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