Ripple CEO Bradley Garlinghouse Reveals the Company's USDC Competitor, RLUSD, Is Weeks Away From Launch

Ripple CEO Bradley Garlinghouse has revealed that the fintech company's U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), is closer than ever to being launched as it eyes a share of the fast-growing stablecoin market.

Fintech giant Ripple is set to launch its long-awaited U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), within “weeks, not months,” according to CEO Bradley Garlinghouse.

During a Sept. 4 fireside chat at Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul, Garlinghouse revealed that the firm is in the final stages of testing RLUSD with enterprise partners.

“We’re in a private kind of closed beta. It’s called Ripple USD. We started minting RLUSD in that framework. We will certainly launch soon. Weeks, not months.”

Ripple first announced its stablecoin plans in April, revealing that the token will be “100% backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. government Treasuries, and other cash equivalents.”

The stablecoin was initially tested by Ripple in August with enterprise partners before preparing for a wider launch.

According to Garlinghouse, Ripple decided to launch its own stablecoin after observing the de-pegging of USD Coin (USDC) from $1 in March 2023.

“We felt like there was an opportunity for a credible player already working with lots of financial institutions to lean into that market,” he said.

The stablecoin will reportedly be initially deployed on Ripple’s native blockchain, XRP Ledger, and Ethereum, with plans to expand to more blockchains and DeFi protocols.

USDT and USDC currently dominate the stablecoin market, with Tether’s USDT accounting for 70% of the total stablecoin supply and USDC taking up around 20%.

Ripple’s stablecoin plans follow further enhancements to the XRP Ledger, including the addition of Ethereum smart contracts via a new sidechain.

Garlinghouse ‘not interested’ in US IPO

While there have been persistent rumors of a potential Ripple initial public offering (IPO), Garlinghouse said during the fireside chat that he has “no interest” in the company going public in the U.S.

This is primarily due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) hostile stance toward the crypto industry.

“SEC approved Coinbase going public in the United States, and now the SEC is suing Coinbase for the same things they approved,” he said.

“One of the first pieces of advice I give entrepreneurs who ask me about starting crypto companies is: don’t incorporate in the United States. You’re just asking for more legal bills.”

Garlinghouse went on to predict the ouster of SEC chair Gary Gensler, regardless of who wins the upcoming presidential election:

“I think no matter who wins the United States election, we’ll see new leadership in the U.S. SEC. I think [Gary Gensler] really has hurt his party. He’s a Democrat, and I think it’s hurt them in the current election cycle.”

On Aug. 7, 2024, Judge Analisa Torres of New York ordered Ripple to pay $125 million as part of the final judgment in its SEC lawsuit. Ripple executives hailed the ruling as a major victory for the company and the crypto industry.

“There aren’t that many companies that actually can stand up to a bully. The SEC has a lot of power, and it takes a lot of money and a lot of conviction to fight that,” Garlinghouse added Wednesday.

“But we really did that from the very, very beginning believe that we were on the right side of the law and that we’d be on the right side of history.”

Ripple filed a letter on Sept. 4 requesting a stay on the monetary portion of Judge Torres’ ruling last month. In essence, Ripple wants to hold off on handing over the $125 million to the securities watchdog until “30 days after the time to appeal or the resolution of any appeal” expires.

The SEC has agreed to the request for a stay.

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