tl;dr
Ripple's CTO, David Schwartz, confirms that the RLUSD stablecoin will initially only be available to institutions, addressing concerns about market manipulation and money laundering. Despite the anticipation of RLUSD's launch, Ripple's XRP remains on a bearish trajectory with a 3.4% decline over the...
Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has confirmed that the much-anticipated stablecoin RLUSD will initially be exclusively available to institutions. This news comes ahead of regulatory approval and the official launch of Ripple’s “Real USD.” Schwartz guarantees RLUSD will be less vulnerable to market manipulators and money launderers.
Earlier in August 2024, Ripple had started the initial testing phase of RLUSD, dubbed the “Real USD” by CEO Brad Garlinghouse. On X (formerly Twitter), an XRP enthusiast raised concerns about RLUSD’s potential for misuse, particularly in regards to money laundering, if access is initially limited to institutions. Schwartz acknowledged the concern but stated that the stablecoin would indeed remain exclusive to institutions at the outset.
Schwartz reiterated that the stablecoin would remain exclusive to institutions initially. He reinforced his point by comparing RLUSD with USDC and USDT, highlighting that individual users cannot access them directly. Addressing the potential risks of market manipulation and money laundering associated with RLUSD, Schwartz stated, “I don’t think that’s likely to happen except maybe in very early test phases before anyone is really using it to move or store value.”
Despite the anticipation of RLUSD's launch, Ripple's XRP remains on a bearish trajectory with a 3.4% decline over the past week and a 10.3% drop over the past month. Analysts have observed this bearish trend even as the platform witnesses milestones like the RLUSD launch and XRPL smart contract integration. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.529, reflecting a 3.4% decline over the past week and a 10.3% drop over the past month.