Thomas Daniels
Georgios Vlachos, co-founder of the open-source interoperability platform Axelar, believes that the launch of the RLUSD stablecoin in 2025 will cause a major change in the dynamics of the XRP market. Approximately 57 billion XRP tokens are in circulation at the moment, out of a maximum supply of 100 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Due to good regulatory prospects and ecosystem growth, the digital asset had an exceptional rise in late 2024. As RLUSD remittances and transactions mostly settle on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain, it is poised for ongoing demand.
“When you do those transfers, you pay for gas in XRP,” Vlachos stated. “XRP holders are set to benefit as each transaction burns a portion of XRP.”
XRP jumped to a seven-year high of over $2.90 on December 3, 2024, before falling to $2.39. Investor sentiment is still positive despite the dip following an overbought Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 95. On December 1, XRP significantly overtook Solana in terms of market capitalization, rising to the fourth-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $138 billion, which is only less than Tether’s $140 billion.
The increasing trend of XRP has been propelled by regulatory clarity. On December 10, 2024, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) authorized Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. Supported by US Treasury bills and fiat reserves, the RLUSD is fixed at a 1:1 ratio to the US dollar.
Furthermore, XRP’s visibility is being strengthened by a surge of institutional interest. WisdomTree expanded XRP’s investment story on Nov. 25, 2024, when it filed for an XRP-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the SEC, joining companies Bitwise, Canary Capital, and 21Shares.
Following his election victory on November 5, 2024, Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance aligned with XRP’s late-2024 rise. Investor confidence in the bitcoin sector has been bolstered by expectations of a more favorable regulatory environment under his administration.
Vlachos underlined that stablecoins, such as RLUSD, are frequently utilized as a means of exchange and a store of value in emerging nations. The stablecoin’s adoption is anticipated to improve XRP’s usability and value proposition in 2025, as RLUSD transactions require XRP for gas expenses.
