RLUSD explained: Ripple’s NYDFS-regulated U.S. dollar stablecoin

RLUSD is a U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a Ripple subsidiary supervised by the New York Department of Financial Services. Each token is designed to redeem 1:1 for U.S. dollars against a segregated reserve of cash, short-dated Treasury bills and cash equivalents. The token launched in December 2024 and had about $2.52 billion in circulation on Sept. 29, 2026, according to market data.

The coin is natively issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum and is also available on Base, Optimism, Ink, Unichain and an XRPL EVM sidechain. On the XRP Ledger, RLUSD transfers require a trust line to the issuer and transaction fees remain payable in XRP; on Ethereum and other EVM networks gas is paid in ETH. Supply is concentrated on Ethereum and XRPL, with roughly $1.40 billion on Ethereum and $1.12 billion on the XRP Ledger as of Sept. 29, 2026.

Institutional customers can mint RLUSD by depositing U.S. dollars into transaction accounts and completing bank‑level KYC and AML checks through Ripple Mint. Redemption requires an onchain transfer to Ripple’s designated redemption wallet followed by bank settlement. Retail users generally acquire RLUSD on exchanges rather than through direct minting and redemption rails.

Reserve custody and transparency follow NYDFS guidance. Ripple named BNY Mellon as primary custodian for the reserves in July 2025. Reserves are reported to include Treasury bills with residual maturity of three months or less, government money market funds, overnight reverse repurchase agreements with approved counterparties, and bank deposits. An independent U.S.-licensed CPA performs monthly attestations under AICPA standards, with reports expected no more than 30 days after month end.

RLUSD operates under multiple regulatory touchpoints. It is issued through a limited-purpose trust company supervised by NYDFS. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval for Ripple National Trust Bank on Dec. 12, 2025; that approval requires completion of preopening conditions before the bank may begin operations. Abu Dhabi Global Market recognized RLUSD for use by authorized firms on Nov. 27, 2025. The GENIUS Act of 2025 established a federal framework for payment stablecoins that affects issuer operations.

The token is presented as a payments and treasury instrument separate from XRP, the native asset of the XRP Ledger. Users and institutions evaluating RLUSD should confirm redemption access, reserve custody details, attestation cadence and venue liquidity before routing large payments, as supply and order-book depth are smaller than the largest dollar stablecoins.