Mastercard, Gemini and Ripple Unite to Pilot Stablecoin Payments on XRPL

Stablecoin settlements of fiat card transactions are being trialled using the XRP Ledger’s (XRPL) native stablecoin, RLUSD, in a partnership between Ripple, Mastercard, the crypto exchange Gemini and WebBank.

The pilot will see RLUSD used for settlement between WebBank and Mastercard for payments made using Gemini’s credit card, which is issued by WebBank.

“Through our partnerships with Ripple, Gemini, and WebBank, we’re using our global payments network to bring regulated, open-loop stablecoin payments into the financial mainstream,” Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s Global Head of Digital Commercialization, said. 

Ripple said the initiative marks “one of the first collaborations where a regulated U.S. bank settles traditional card transactions using a regulated stablecoin on a public blockchain.”

Monica Long, President of Ripple, said it would act as an example to the banking and finance industries, demonstrating how blockchain and stablecoins can be used to enhance existing settlement arrangements between financial institutions.

This partnership is a meaningful step toward showcasing how regulated digital assets like RLUSD can enhance settlement, paving the way for other card programs to adopt stablecoins for faster, compliant payments. The XRPL will serve as the backbone for these and other institutional use cases that are transforming how financial services operate.

Monica Long, Ripple President

However, it sounds like real-world RLUSD settlement of fiat card payments is some way off. Ripple said that over the next few months, the partners will “conduct initial RLUSD onboarding on the XRPL, subject to obtaining the required regulatory approvals.” Only once that is complete will they “begin integration planning within existing Mastercard and WebBank settlement processes.”

Related: Ripple Expands Institutional Push with Acquisition of Crypto Custody Firm Palisade

Ripple’s RLUSD Surges to Over US$1 Billion Market Cap

Despite launching less than 12 months ago, data from CoinGecko shows that Ripple’s RLUSD this week crossed the US$1 billion market cap mark (AU$1.5b), an increase of over 1200% since launch.

In just the past month, CoinGecko data shows that RLUSD’s market cap has grown from under US$800 million (AU$1.2b) to over US$1 billion, indicating it may be seeing more widespread adoption. 

Related: Ripple Acquires Hidden Road and Relaunches It as Ripple Prime, Hints New XRP Utilities

RLUSD is issued on both Ethereum and the XRPL, with Ethereum currently accounting for about 80% of circulating supply, while the remaining 20% is on the XRPL. Daily trading volumes for RLUSD have recently been in the US$170 million (AU$261m) range, similar to some of its competitors, such as PayPal’s PYUSD and DAI.