TL;DR

Ripple is launching a new stablecoin, with private beta testing currently underway. The latest update comes in the form of a burning development. The stablecoin cohort is growing, with a market cap of over $171 billion, led by USDT and USDC.

Whats New Around RLUSD?

Ripple made the headlines in April this year when it revealed it would introduce a stablecoin pegged to the American dollar. The team said it would be called Ripple USD (RLUSD) and will be available on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum. Its official launch is scheduled for later this year, though the exact date remains unclear.

Ripple started private beta testing for its upcoming product earlier this summer, labeling the initiative as a significant milestone that could drive new opportunities, liquidity, and institutional use cases for users, developers, and applications. Last week, the team minted the first 185 RLUSD as the transaction fee was 0.000135 XRP.

According to on-chain data from XRP Scan, Ripple burned that stash on August 28. The transaction fee was slightly higher this time, equaling 0.00036 XRP. However, the sum remains insignificant when converted to USD. 

The latest update surrounding RLUSD caused some X users to speculate that the beta testing might be completed with Ripple getting ready to release the product.

However, the stablecoin remains unavailable for purchase or trading at this point. The team has previously warned users to be extra cautious as they might become victims of scammers who may exploit Ripples brand and purport to have early access to sell Ripple USD.

Stablecoins Progress 

While the leading cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), have shown wobbly performance recently, this is not the case with the stablecoin sector. Currently, there are hundreds of such financial products, and many are pegged to the US dollar. 

As CryptoPotato reported on August 26, their market capitalization spiked to almost $170 billion. The uptrend continued in the following days, and currently, the figure exceeds $171 billion (per CoinGeckos data).

Tether (USDT) remains the undisputed leader with a market cap of over $118 billion, followed by USDC, which has around $34.5 billion. 

Stablecoins are often used as a bridge between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. The rising market cap indicates there is more capital potentially available for buying and selling digital assets like bitcoin (BTC), which could lead to more dynamic price movements in the future.