Payments firm Ripple is announcing exchange partners for the launch of RLUSD, the company’s new dollar-pegged stablecoin.
According to a new press release, Ripple Labs is collaborating with crypto platforms Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA, and Bullish to launch Ripple USD.
Beta testing for RLUSD rolled out on the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) two months ago.
Ripple first announced plans for RLUSD in April 2024. In a court filing in May, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) argued that the planned stablecoin represented an “unregistered crypto asset.” The SEC’s assertions have yet to be confirmed or denied in court.
According to Ripple, the new stablecoin is designed decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance uses. According to the announcement, RLUSD is backed by cash deposits, US government bonds and cash equivalents subject to monthly third-party auditing.
RLUSD will be issued under a New York Trust Company Charter and thus highly regulated. The RLUSD advisory board overseeing the project is made up of a former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chair, CEOs, and the Ripple co-founder, Chris Larsen, himself.
Says advisory board member and former FDIC Chair Shelia Bair of the RLUSD project:
“Stablecoins will play a key role in modernizing our financial infrastructure and broadening financial inclusion. I am honored to join Ripple’s advisory board as they launch their stablecoin with a compliance-first approach. As the digital assets industry grows, responsible innovation will be paramount to their adoption, prioritizing both consumer protection and financial stability.”
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