During the XRPL Commons hackathon in New York on October 24‑25, an attendee posted that Mastercard representatives complimented Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin while explaining partner pitch requirements. The post, made by community member Lost Art, did not include a recording, speaker name, or formal Mastercard statement, and therefore reflects an attendee’s account rather than an official endorsement.
Event details and partners
The 36‑hour hackathon, organized by XRPL Commons, featured developers building payment applications, lending products, and protocol upgrades. Mastercard was listed among the event’s ecosystem partners, alongside Ripple, the XRP Ledger Foundation, Ledger, AWS, and QuickNode. More than $40,000 in prizes were offered across four developer tracks: agentic finance, lending and borrowing, protocol innovation, and an open category.
Background on Mastercard and RLUSD
Mastercard’s involvement with Ripple predates the hackathon. In November 2025, Ripple announced that Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini would explore settlement of the RLUSD stablecoin for fiat card transactions, subject to regulatory approvals. In June 2026, Mastercard said it would add regulated stablecoin settlement options to its network, naming RLUSD among supported tokens and XRPL as a supported blockchain.
Implications
The attendee’s report does not confirm a product launch, settlement volume, or immediate impact on XRP demand. While the mention adds visibility to RLUSD, Mastercard has not announced that the stablecoin is currently usable for card settlements across its network.
Hackathon focus
The event’s agentic finance track allows participants to develop software that can make payments and transact on‑chain, with the option to settle in XRP or RLUSD. Demonstrations at the hackathon remain prototypes; deployment would require further product decisions and operational controls.
