RLUSD's Meteoric Rise Leaves XRP Struggling to Keep Up

Ripple's dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, has seen significant growth in 2026, reaching a market value of $2.49 billion across all blockchains it operates on. This surge comes as XRP, Ripple's native token, has declined by 18% and currently trades 59% below its all-time high.

The key to understanding this dynamic is what RLUSD demands of users: they primarily need a stable dollar value, which doesn't require purchasing XRP. In fact, banks can create, hold, and redeem RLUSD without ever needing to buy XRP, directly threatening XRP's original role as a bridge currency.

Ripple introduced Mint, a platform that lets institutions generate new RLUSD against deposited dollars. Currently, RLUSD is just $248 million short of PayPal USD (CRYPTO: PYUSD), the stablecoin issued by PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL).