RLUSD on Kraken While First XRP ETF Goes Live

Ripple's RLUSD, the stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, has officially landed on Kraken. For Ripple, this is another little win in their long campaign to own the cross border payments space. For investors like you, it’s an indication of where blockchain is going, moving forward. This integration also comes as RLUSD flirts with a $250 million market capitalization for the first time, just four months after its launch in December 2024 – growth that even Ripple are surprised by.

For anyone keeping score at home, Kraken is now the latest heavyweight exchange to support RLUSD. They join the ranks of Bitstamp, Bullish, and institutional trading platform LMAX Digital. But what makes this listing particularly interesting isn't just the added liquidity it can expect – it's how quickly RLUSD is being adopted for real-world financial operations. According to Ripple's Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, Jack McDonald, the token is already being used as collateral in both crypto and traditional finance markets, while non-for-profit organizations are exploring RLUSD’s potential to revolutionize charitable giving through blockchain efficiency. 

Built to operate on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, RLUSD is Ripple's big ambitious play to streamline cross-border payments. The stablecoin's market cap currently sits at $244 million, making it the 22nd largest stablecoin – which isn’t bad for a newbie in an increasingly crowded field. But Ripple isn't stopping at exchange listings. The company recently baked RLUSD directly into its Ripple Payments solution, with payment providers like BKK Forex and iSend already using the stablecoin to facilitate international transactions. This is a strategic integration of Ripple’s, which suggest that they see RLUSD as more than just another digital dollar – they’re pushing for RLUSD to become the lubricant for the global payments system.

And while RLUSD is making big moves in the stablecoin market, their native XRP token is enjoying its own time in the sun. In a huge development for US crypto markets, Teucrium Investment Advisors just launched the first ever leveraged XRP ETF on NYSE Arca. Dubbed the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF (XXRP), this complex financial instrument gives traders 2x leveraged exposure to XRP's daily price movements without actually holding the cryptocurrency.

The back end set up of this ETF means that instead of direct XRP purchases, the ETF uses an array of instruments, including European-listed ETPs (Exchange Traded Products) and CME's (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) XRP reference rates to create its exposure. Just quickly, if that last bit sounded confusing, you aren’t alone. The CME is a once a day benchmark index price for XRP that aggregates trade data from multiple XRP-USD markets. And if that didn’t make much sense either… Well, you’re on your own. 

Anyway! All this fancy engineering comes with a 1.85% management fee, which is a little steep for some, but it represents a significant step toward mainstream XRP adoption in a market where spot ETFs remain elusive. Teucrium is typical best known for their commodity ETFs, so for them, this appears to be testing the regulatory waters with this product. But what’s very positive is the approval suggests growing SEC comfort with crypto derivatives, even as spot products remain in limbo.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently predicted multiple XRP ETFs could hit the US market by late 2025, with firms like Bitwise, 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton already lining up applications. Keen watchers are particularly interested in the possibility of the big behemoths like BlackRock or Fidelity joining the action. A development like that could have some seriously positive price action for XRP.

So putting these developments together, it certainly looks like for Ripple, their ecosystem is maturing and awaiting a big bloom. On the one hand, RLUSD is carving out space in the super competitive stablecoin market. Meanwhile, XRP is gaining some sophisticated financial products, bridging the gap between crypto natives and traditional investors.

But if you’ll indulge me and zoom out even further, look at how these pieces fit together. RLUSD's growth on exchanges creates more liquidity for cross-border payments, while XRP's expanding ETF prospects could drive new institutional interest in Ripple's broader tech stack. It's a virtuous cycle that could position Ripple uniquely as both a payments infrastructure provider and a beneficiary of growing crypto market sophistication. Pretty interesting stuff! 

For investors, or even just those a little bit curious in this, the message is simple: keep your eyes peeled on Ripple's ecosystem. If Ripple succeed, then between RLUSD and XRP, the future of finance could be about to change.