Ripple USD

Ripple announced on December 16, 2024 that RLUSD would become available the next day. It launched on XRP Ledger and Ethereum, but not as one contract copied twice. XRPL represents it as an issued currency tied to an issuer and trust lines; Ethereum represents it as an ERC-20 accessed through a proxy.

The common layer is legal. Ripple identifies SCTC as issuer. NYDFS lists SCTC as a limited-purpose trust company chartered in May 2021 and RLUSD as approved for issuance in New York. The charter identifies an accountable issuer; it does not turn the token into insured cash.

The terms require reserve value of at least outstanding RLUSD multiplied by one dollar. They allow short Treasury bills, Treasury-backed overnight reverse repos, government money-market funds, and deposits held separately from SCTC's other assets. Ripple retains net reserve returns; RLUSD pays none to holders.

Ripple reported $2,180.1 million circulating and $2,296.0 million in reserve funds on August 27, 2026, with monthly independent-CPA attestations. The date matters: a report reconciles a snapshot and does not force third-party markets to quote exactly $1.

The terms let a Customer redeem each RLUSD for one dollar subject to a separate Customer Agreement. They also deny general holders any direct or indirect property interest in the reserve. The token moves between wallets more easily than eligibility for the bank-dollar exit.

A holder can exercise redemption only after becoming eligible and a Customer. Reserve backing supports the issuer's obligation; identity checks, jurisdiction, compliance review, fees, and service availability decide who can present that claim directly.

The official XRPL mainnet issuer is rMxCKbEDwqr76QuheSUMdEGf4B9xJ8m5De. A wallet records RLUSD as an issued balance naming currency and issuer, not as native XRP. A matching ticker from another issuer is not the same claim.

Ripple's published settings enable Global Freeze, trust-line Clawback, and Deposit Authorization while leaving No Freeze disabled. These tools support sanctions and incident response, and also keep valid ledger balances within reach of later issuer intervention.

Ethereum applications access RLUSD through proxy 0x8292Bb45bf1Ee4d140127049757C2E0fF06317eD. RLUSD token amounts have 18 decimal places. Ripple’s design assigns a central Role Admin plus Minter, Burner, Pauser, Clawbacker, and Upgrader roles. UUPS upgrades can change logic while preserving the address, balances, and stored roles.

XRPL thus uses issuer flags and trust-line actions; Ethereum uses privileged calls and proxy upgrades. Legal terms overlay both with blacklisting, freezing, burning, and possible replacement minting. RLUSD's regulated accountability comes with administrator keys that belong in the risk model.