Ripple’s native stablecoin, RLUSD, is emerging as a central driver of activity on the XRPL — and its recent growth helps explain why liquidity, not just price, is becoming the story for Ripple. Why stablecoins matter now As traditional finance (TradFi) increasingly integrates with decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins sit at the nexus of that evolution. The global stablecoin market is roughly $320 billion, and that concentration of capital is shifting where value and utility accrue in crypto. That raises an important question: do Layer-1 blockchains with native stablecoins enjoy a structural advantage? Ripple’s XRPL — and RLUSD in particular — offers a compelling case study. On-chain fundamentals outpaced XRP’s price in 2025 Although XRP finished 2025 down about 11.6% after two Q4 sell-offs and briefly losing $2 support, the XRPL ecosystem showed powerful underlying growth. By year-end, the stablecoin supply on XRPL had surged nearly 300% (DeFiLlama), and RLUSD crossed the $1 billion market-cap mark — one of only six stablecoins to do so in 2025, according to Binance. At the same time, XRPL’s total tokenized asset value ballooned roughly 4,160% to $213 million, underlining strong capital flows into on-chain assets despite XRP’s price weakness. Momentum carrying into 2026 Ripple entered 2026 with several developments that reinforce its institutional positioning. The company secured official approval to operate in the U.K., enabling the expansion of payment services and formalizing relationships with banks — a meaningful legitimacy milestone for enterprise adoption. Meanwhile, XRPL’s stablecoin market cap continued to climb, hitting a record $405 million and rising 11.5% in just seven days (CoinGecko). RLUSD’s latest moves Recent mints of RLUSD have been significant: $40 million was recently issued on XRPL, and RLUSD’s market cap has grown to about $1.38 billion. That expanding liquidity is attracting larger players and appears to be a factor cited during institutional discussions and regulatory approvals. The logic is straightforward: greater native stablecoin liquidity can deepen capital deployment on an L1, improve throughput and transaction efficiency, and make the network more attractive to banks and payment providers. What this means for XRP and Ripple Taken together, these trends suggest Ripple’s competitive angle is increasingly about on-chain liquidity and institutional readiness driven by native stablecoins. While XRP’s price hasn’t fully reflected these fundamentals yet, the token was up roughly 14% early in 2026 — a sign the market may be starting to price in the ecosystem gains. Whether that momentum continues will depend on sustained adoption of RLUSD, further institutional integrations, and how effectively Ripple converts on-chain capital flows into broader network utility. Bottom line RLUSD and XRPL’s explosive stablecoin growth illustrate how native stablecoins can reshape an L1’s institutional narrative. For Ripple, liquidity — not just token price — may be the clearest indicator of progress as the TradFi–DeFi bridge continues to form. Disclaimer: This article is informational only and not investment advice. Crypto investments carry high risk; do your own research before making decisions. © 2026 AMBCrypto. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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