RLUSD stablecoin will increase demand for XRP — Axelar co-founder

XRP (XRP) experienced a historic rally in November 2024 due to political tailwinds and new ecosystem developments. Georgios Vlachos, co-founder of the Axelar open-source interoperability platform, told Cointelegraph that the upcoming RLUSD stablecoin will likely boost demand for XRP in 2025.

Vlachos said that many people, including those in emerging economies, use stablecoins as a method of transaction and a store of value. RLUSD transactions and remittances will mostly settle on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and the XRP-EVM sidechain, driving demand for XRP. Vlachos told Cointelegraph:

"When you do those transfers, you pay for gas in XRP. So, the XRP holders are still going to benefit because you burn some XRP every time you do a transaction."

XRP climbed to a seven-year high of approximately $2.90 on Dec. 3, 2024, but pulled back to current price levels after the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hit 95, indicating the asset was overbought. Despite the pullback, several catalysts have sustained investor attention for XRP going into 2025.

Related: Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin: Here’s what you need to know before launch

Catalysts driving XRP's price

Following Donald Trump's electoral victory on November 5, XRP experienced a historic price rally alongside other cryptocurrencies due to the President-elect's pro-crypto rhetoric and the promise of a friendlier regulatory climate for the crypto industry in the United States.

On Nov. 25, asset management firm WisdomTree filed for an XRP ETF, joining Bitwise, Canary Capital, and 21Shares, which all previously submitted applications to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an XRP exchange-traded fund.

XRP flipped Solana by market capitalization on Dec. 1, elevating XRP to the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, XRP currently has a market cap of approximately $138 billion — less than $2 billion shy of Tether's current market cap of roughly $140 billion.

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approved Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin on Dec. 10. The dollar-pegged stablecoin will be overcollateralized by fiat cash reserves and short-term cash equivalents such as US Treasury bills and redeemable at a 1:1 ratio with US dollars.

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