Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is currently experiencing lopsided growth, with nearly 66% of its $2.6 billion circulating supply residing on the Ethereum blockchain instead of the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Despite Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s stated goal of establishing the XRPL as the primary hub for RLUSD use cases, DefiLlama data confirms that the majority of liquidity has migrated to Ethereum. This suggests that the depth of Ethereum’s decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure is currently more attractive to stablecoin users than the native features of Ripple’s own chain.
The context of this growth lies in the competitive landscape of the 2026 stablecoin market, where institutional adoption hinges on interoperability and existing network effects. Ripple launched RLUSD to provide a regulated, USD-backed alternative to giants like USDT and USDC. However, by launching as a cross-chain asset, RLUSD has inadvertently highlighted the difficulty of pulling liquidity away from Ethereum’s massive ecosystem of lending protocols and decentralized exchanges, even for a company as established as Ripple.
For the XRP community, this trend presents a strategic challenge. While the overall growth of RLUSD to $2.6 billion is a positive signal for Ripple’s corporate standing and regulatory compliance, the lack of dominant activity on the XRP Ledger means the network is missing out on the transaction fees and ecosystem density that typically follow stablecoin adoption. Market analysts are watching closely to see if Ripple will introduce new liquidity incentives or institutional bridges to rebalance the supply toward the XRPL.
Looking ahead, the success of RLUSD will be a major litmus test for Ripple’s cross-chain strategy throughout 2026. Investors should monitor potential shifts in US stablecoin regulations, as Ripple’s compliance-first approach may eventually favor the XRPL if specific institutional gateways are developed. For now, the focus remains on whether Ripple can translate its stablecoin’s success into tangible growth for the XRP Ledger’s on-chain metrics.