While Ripple’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD continues its rapid growth, some members of the XRP investor community have raised concerns that the rise of RLUSD could be eroding the role of XRP on the XRP Ledger. However, XRP-focused treasury services firm Evernorth says that on-chain data shows the opposite is true.
Transaction data points to ecosystem expansion
Evernorth has analyzed all RLUSD transactions on the XRP Ledger and found no evidence that RLUSD is displacing XRP’s utility. Instead, the company reports that RLUSD has improved network liquidity, spurred trading activity, and boosted overall use of the ledger.
According to the data, RLUSD’s share of transaction volume on the XRP Ledger has climbed from less than 1% to nearly 12% in under 18 months. With this increase, the network now hosts a native US dollar market that was previously missing from its infrastructure.
Evernorth emphasizes that RLUSD is not diminishing the importance of XRP; rather, it is deepening network liquidity and broadening the utility of the XRP Ledger.
One notable metric is the RLUSD/XRP trading pair: in just six months, this pair has generated approximately $900 million in transaction volume. This trend demonstrates that users can seamlessly move between dollar-based assets and XRP entirely within the network, without needing to leave the ecosystem.
How RLUSD’s function on the network is evaluated
Evernorth draws a parallel between RLUSD’s function on the XRP Ledger and the role of the US dollar in global currency markets. Much like the dollar acts as a fundamental asset in financial transactions worldwide, RLUSD is quickly becoming the primary dollar benchmark on the XRP Ledger. However, XRP remains the network’s essential medium for settlement and payments.
All RLUSD transactions ultimately settle on the XRP Ledger, with network fees paid in XRP; as the use of RLUSD rises, so does demand for XRP in transactions.
This structure suggests that as RLUSD adoption grows, it could ultimately support greater XRP utility as well. Because transaction fees are paid in XRP and these fees are permanently burned, the expansion of network activity could gradually place downward pressure on the circulating supply of XRP.
RLUSD’s share of the network has surged
Data now shows that the XRP Ledger has become the principal network for RLUSD. More than 50% of RLUSD’s total supply is currently held on the XRP Ledger—up from only 17% back in April.
Evernorth concludes that this evolution is a sign not of RLUSD undermining XRP, but of the XRP Ledger’s expansion into a more liquid and active platform. In this dynamic environment, XRP’s core role as the native asset for payments and settlement remains intact.
