XRP vs RLUSD: Claver Explains Why One Won't Replace the Other
Jake Claver, chairman of Digital Ascension Group, has weighed in on the debate over whether RLUSD can replace XRP as the XRPL routing asset. He disagrees with this idea, arguing that the two serve fundamentally different roles.
Claver compared the XRP Ledger to an airline system, explaining that XRP acts like a central hub connecting assets when there isn't enough direct liquidity between them. This comparison helps illustrate why RLUSD and XRP cannot be used interchangeably.
The chairman noted that if hundreds of tokenized assets were connected directly, thousands of liquidity pools would be required. However, using one central hub like XRP would only need 100 connections. For instance, a trade between a tokenized money market fund and a yen stablecoin could use XRP to connect the two in just one step.
In contrast, Claver said that RLUSD is a digital dollar designed to stay worth $1, backed by reserves held by its issuer. However, he pointed out that many tokenized-asset trades won't involve dollars and that RLUSD may not be the best asset to use in these cases.