Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin has launched on Coinbase and its Base blockchain after Moody's assigned the token an A2 long-term deposit rating and P-1 short-term deposit rating, placing it within the agency's investment-grade category.
The agreement announced Wednesday makes RLUSD available on Coinbase's retail and institutional trading platforms, expanding the dollar-backed cryptocurrency's distribution through the largest US crypto exchange. Customers can now trade and manage RLUSD through Coinbase's retail application, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime, its institutional trading and custody platform.
The integration allows customers to convert US dollars and other supported dollar-backed stablecoins into RLUSD at a 1:1 rate. Coinbase will support deposits and withdrawals across three blockchain networks: the XRP Ledger, Ethereum, and Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network.
Expanding RLUSD's Market Presence
The development follows RLUSD's December 2024 launch, with the stablecoin surpassing $2.4 billion in market capitalization. Ripple will provide liquidity on Base to support RLUSD trading and adoption across the network's growing ecosystem of decentralized financial applications.
According to Coinbase's second-quarter earnings report, stablecoin transaction volume on Base increased sevenfold year over year, reflecting growing use of the network for dollar-denominated transfers. The exchange also reported that more than 90% of stablecoin transaction volume associated with onchain AI agents occurred on Base during the quarter.
Coinbase plans to make RLUSD available to Coinbase Global Exchange customers, including allowing institutional traders to use the stablecoin as collateral for trading activities. The expansion also follows Ripple's agreement with Robinhood earlier in the week to bring RLUSD to its trading ecosystem and support institutional settlement on the XRP Ledger.
Moody's Credit Assessment
Moody's based its investment-grade assessment on the quality and liquidity of RLUSD's reserves, redemption arrangements, custody protections, regulatory oversight, and operational controls. The stablecoin's reserves consist predominantly of short-term US government securities and cash, with issuer Standard Custody & Trust Company targeting 103% reserve coverage.
BNY holds most of those assets, including US Treasury bills and other short-term government securities. The issuer runs weekly liquidity stress tests and monitors reserves daily.
RLUSD's reserves are segregated from the issuer's corporate assets and dedicated to meeting redemption obligations. The reserve arrangements support RLUSD redemptions at face value within two full business days for eligible institutional holders, alongside independent monthly attestations and oversight by the New York Department of Financial Services.
