Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin Goes Live on Kraken, BKK Forex and iSend

Ripple’s U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD has gone live on crypto exchange Kraken and is now being used in real-time cross-border payment flows, the company announced Wednesday.

The move is a key step in Ripple’s broader strategy to integrate RLUSD into its payment infrastructure and push further into the stablecoin arena, where demand is climbing and legislative frameworks are finally taking shape in Washington.

Ripple said BKK Forex and iSend, two of its payment platform partners, are already using RLUSD to streamline cross-border treasury operations. More partners are expected to follow.

“RLUSD is being used in the payment flow with select customers,” Ripple noted in a statement, adding that the stablecoin will gradually become available to other institutional clients on the network.

Since launching in December, RLUSD’s market cap has grown to over $240 million, according to the company. Ripple’s SVP of Stablecoins, Jack McDonald, said the token is seeing demand in both crypto and traditional finance markets — including as collateral in trading environments.

“We’re seeing the market cap continue to grow,” McDonald said. “RLUSD is being used for a number of use cases.”

The timing of the announcement comes as stablecoins once again dominate headlines. In Washington, lawmakers are preparing to vote on stablecoin legislation that could set clearer rules around issuance and oversight. Meanwhile, other players are crowding into the space — including World Liberty Financial, a DeFi project backed by President Donald Trump, which is now rolling out its own dollar-pegged token.

Globally, Tether’s USDT remains the dominant player in stablecoins, but the field is widening fast. Ripple’s bet is that increased clarity from regulators — paired with its existing enterprise network — could give RLUSD staying power in a market where usage is rising, but trust and transparency are still in short supply.

To support RLUSD’s use in decentralized finance (DeFi), Ripple announced a collaboration with Chainlink on January 7. The partnership integrates Chainlink’s price feeds for RLUSD on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger to secure tamper-proof data for DeFi applications while mitigating risks like manipulation or downtime.