Ripple expands $1.3B RLUSD to Ethereum L2s via Wormhole

Published: 2025-12-16 19:33:17 |

Ripple plans to expand its $1.3 billion USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD onto multiple Ethereum layer-2 networks using Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers (NTT) standard. A pilot will launch on Optimism, Base, Kraken’s Ink Chain and Uniswap’s Unichain, with a broader rollout planned for 2026 pending New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approval. RLUSD is issued under an NYDFS trust charter and Ripple has also secured conditional approval for an OCC federal trust bank charter. Wormhole’s NTT enables native token transfers without wrapped assets, preserving liquidity and lowering friction for DeFi and dApps on faster, lower-cost L2s. Ripple previously integrated Wormhole for XRP Ledger interoperability and related cross-chain initiatives (for example, Hex Trust’s wrapped XRP). The move increases potential utility for RLUSD and XRP across Ethereum L2 ecosystems, which could boost liquidity and institutional DeFi activity. Key SEO keywords: RLUSD, Wormhole, Ethereum L2, stablecoin, Ripple.

Bullish

Expansion of RLUSD to Ethereum layer-2s via Wormhole’s NTT is likely bullish for the tokens mentioned (primarily RLUSD and, by association, XRP) because it increases on-chain utility, reduces transaction costs, and preserves liquidity by avoiding wrapped assets. Short-term, positive sentiment may drive increased demand for RLUSD on L2s as traders and DeFi players test the pilot on Optimism, Base, Ink and Unichain — lifting stablecoin flows and UX for associated trading pairs. Integration signals stronger institutional and DeFi onboarding potential due to NYDFS trust oversight and conditional OCC approval, which supports medium-to-long-term adoption by custodians, exchanges and protocols. However, the price impact on XRP specifically depends on how much RLUSD adoption translates into XRP usage (e.g., on-ramps, liquidity provisioning). Operational or regulatory delays (NYDFS approval, technical bugs in cross-chain transfers) could temper the immediate rally, but overall the announcement increases utility and is more likely to be net-positive (bullish) for on-chain liquidity and market activity tied to RLUSD and related XRP use cases.