Ripple USD (RLUSD): what it is, who issues it and how it works

What RLUSD is and who issues it

Ripple USD (RLUSD) is a US dollar stablecoin: each token is meant to be redeemable for $1, and the issuer holds dollar reserves against every token in circulation. Ripple's attestation reports name the issuer as Standard Custody & Trust Company, LLC (SCTC), a New York limited purpose trust company supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and a subsidiary of Ripple Labs Inc.

The brand is Ripple's, but the legal promise to redeem sits with SCTC. Ripple's user terms for RLUSD, last updated 14 October 2026, name SCTC as the issuer and are governed by New York law. Ripple describes the launch as late 2024, and its first published reserve report covers December 2024.

RLUSD and XRP are different assets

RLUSD is often searched alongside XRP, but the two do different jobs. XRP is the native asset of the XRP Ledger. It has no issuer obligation behind it and its price floats. RLUSD is a liability of a regulated trust company, backed by dollar reserves and designed to stay at $1. RLUSD runs on the XRP Ledger as one of several networks, and on that ledger network fees and account reserves are paid in XRP. RLUSD's value, however, does not depend on XRP's price.

How RLUSD is minted and redeemed

Ripple's developer documentation describes direct issuance as an institutional service. Direct access is limited to enterprise institutions that pass bank-level know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering checks, and the user terms add that only customers bound by the RLUSD customer agreement can buy from or redeem with Ripple.

1. Mint. The institution deposits US dollars into a transaction account in the Ripple Mint interface. Ripple moves the funds into the RLUSD reserve account, screens the receiving wallet and, if it passes, signs the on-chain transaction that sends new RLUSD to that wallet.
2. Redeem. The institution sends RLUSD on chain to Ripple's redemption wallet. Ripple detects the transfer, runs a compliance check and instructs partner banks to pay US dollars to the customer's bank account.

Everyone else gets RLUSD from an exchange or other platform that has it, and leaves by selling it there. Ripple says availability depends on jurisdiction, and its partner directory says Ripple does not endorse the listed companies.

Networks and token addresses

RLUSD is a separate token on each network. Ripple's token-address page lists the following:

There is a small mismatch between Ripple's sources. The September 2026 attestation lists seven NYDFS-approved networks (XRPL, Ethereum, Base, Unichain, Optimism, Ink and the XRPL EVM Sidechain), while the documentation also lists Robinhood Chain. A token at any other address is not RLUSD, whatever its name. On Ethereum and the other EVM chains RLUSD uses proxy contracts, which means the code behind the token can be upgraded.

Reserves, custody and attestations

Ripple states that RLUSD is backed 1:1 by cash, US Treasuries and government money market funds, held in segregated accounts at depository institutions and securities custodians. It says it selected The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) as primary custodian of the reserves in July 2025.

Each month an independent accounting firm examines management's reserve report, following the June 2022 NYDFS guidance on dollar-backed stablecoins. That guidance limits reserves to Treasury bills maturing in three months or less, overnight reverse repurchase agreements backed by Treasuries, government money market funds and bank deposits, all segregated from the issuer's own assets. Ripple's transparency page does not name the firm, and the name was not legible in the copy of the report we opened.

The September 2026 report, signed on 26 October 2026 by SCTC chief executive Jack McDonald, gives these figures:

On 30 September the reserve exceeded outstanding tokens by about $124 million. Ripple's transparency page showed $2,627.0 million RLUSD in circulation against $2,758.6 million in reserves on 29 October 2026, a ratio of about 105%. The stablecoin page advertises "103% overcollateralized", a lower figure that Ripple does not reconcile with these reports. An attestation checks the reserve on the report dates only; it is not a full audit of SCTC.

Regulation outside New York

• Dubai: on 3 June 2025 Ripple announced that the Dubai Financial Services Authority had recognised RLUSD as a crypto token for use in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
• Abu Dhabi: on 27 November 2025 Ripple announced that Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority had recognised RLUSD as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token, usable by FSRA-licensed firms in Abu Dhabi Global Market.
• US federal: on 26 October 2026 Ripple announced final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for Ripple National Trust Bank, following conditional approval in December 2025. Ripple says the bank will oversee RLUSD's segregated reserves and act as their collateral trustee, while SCTC remains the issuer under NYDFS supervision.

These recognitions let licensed firms in those jurisdictions use RLUSD. They do not guarantee the token's value.

Risks to understand

• Addresses can be blacklisted and tokens burned. Section 11.5 of the user terms lets Ripple restrict transfers from an address where law or its compliance policy requires it, with or without notice. It also lets Ripple burn RLUSD in one wallet and mint it to another, with no obligation to re-mint, and holders may lose their RLUSD as a result.
• Redemption at par is for customers only. If you hold RLUSD through an exchange, your exit is that exchange's market, not Ripple's redemption wallet.
• Contracts can change. The EVM versions are proxy contracts, so their behavior can be changed by upgrade.
• Reports cover set dates. Two report dates a month do not show the reserve on the days in between.

Our guide on how to assess a stablecoin sets out the questions that apply to any of these tokens.

Alternatives by function

These are similar tokens, not recommendations. USD Coin (USDC) is a larger dollar stablecoin issued by Circle across many networks. Gemini Dollar (GUSD) is also issued by an NYDFS-chartered trust company but exists only on Ethereum and is redeemed through Gemini accounts. Our stablecoin ratings compare issuers on published criteria, and RLUSD is assessed separately in our RLUSD review; this profile describes the token and does not grade it.