Ripple Launches Stablecoin in Asia With SBI Holdings Support
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Ripple has officially launched its long-rumored stablecoin, marking a major strategic shift aimed at expanding its presence in the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific payments market. The U.S.-based blockchain firm announced on Saturday that it will issue the stablecoin, dubbed RippleUSD (RLUSD), on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, with rollout support from Japan’s SBI Holdings, one of its largest institutional partners.
The stablecoin will be backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar reserves, including cash, short-term U.S. Treasuries, and other liquid assets held by regulated custodians. Ripple claims the asset will be fully transparent and subject to monthly attestations by a third-party auditing firm. RLUSD will initially target enterprise clients and financial institutions seeking low-cost, instant cross-border settlements — a core use case that aligns with Ripple’s long-standing vision.
XRP jumped 6.4% following the news, climbing to $0.71, its highest point in nearly two weeks. Traders and analysts see the launch as a significant move to diversify Ripple’s product offerings and challenge stablecoin leaders like USDT and USDC in key corridors across Asia, especially Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a press release that stablecoins are “a natural evolution” for the company’s mission to modernize global payments infrastructure. He also emphasized that Asia represents a “massive untapped opportunity” for stablecoin-driven commerce, citing high remittance volumes, underbanked populations, and increasing regulatory clarity in countries like Singapore and Japan.
SBI Holdings, a long-time Ripple partner and XRP advocate, will help with liquidity provisioning, compliance onboarding, and distribution in Japan. The financial group’s president, Yoshitaka Kitao, stated that the partnership will position RippleUSD as a regional leader in blockchain-based stable payment rails.
Unlike algorithmic or overcollateralized models, RippleUSD follows a fiat-backed structure similar to Circle’s USDC. It will feature native compatibility with RippleNet and On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) services and eventually integrate into decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms via wrapped assets and bridges.
The move comes as regulatory pressure mounts in the U.S. stablecoin market. By launching through Asia and working with licensed banking partners, Ripple is signaling a more globally distributed approach to stablecoin issuance, potentially sidestepping domestic hurdles while building momentum abroad.
With the XRP Ledger already optimized for fast, cheap transactions, RippleUSD could offer a scalable solution for real-time settlement — especially in regions where payment infrastructure is still catching up. Whether it can meaningfully challenge entrenched players like Tether remains to be seen, but industry observers are calling this Ripple’s most ambitious expansion since the original launch of ODL.
