XRP Adoption Growth Seen From RLUSD Trial on XRPL

First Ledger suggests that growing interest in the XRP Ledger could translate into broader XRP adoption across major payment institutions.

How will Mastercard and WebBank use XRP in the new settlement pilot?

Leading XRPL decentralized exchange First Ledger has claimed that top financial players such as Mastercard and WebBank will ultimately use XRP following Ripple’s latest collaboration.

The claim surfaced after Ripple announced on November 21, 2025, a partnership with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini to pilot RLUSD stablecoin settlement on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

The pilot is designed to test how regulated stablecoins like RLUSD can settle traditional card payments directly on XRPL. However, although Ripple’s official communication emphasized RLUSD as the settlement asset, First Ledger argues that all entities involved will still rely on XRP at the protocol level.

This view is rooted in how the XRP Ledger works. As XRPL’s native asset, XRP underpins value transfer across the network, and all transaction fees on XRPL are paid in XRP. Moreover, every operation that modifies the ledger state, including stablecoin transfers, consumes XRP as a fee to prevent spam and secure the network.

Why does RLUSD settlement still depend on XRP?

Consequently, any activity on XRPL, including RLUSD-based card transactions, requires XRP to pay XRP network fees and sustain ledger operations. That said, even if RLUSD is highlighted as the visible settlement currency for users, Mastercard, Gemini, Ripple, and WebBank will inherently interact with XRP simply by broadcasting transactions to the blockchain.

From First Ledger’s perspective, this interaction amounts to effective use of XRP by all partners in the pilot. However, the distinction between using XRP as a fee asset and as a primary settlement asset remains important for understanding the economic impact of the initiative.

Ripple’s partnership aligns with a broader industry push to bring regulated stablecoins into mainstream payments. Similar experiments are underway across multiple networks, as shown by trials documented by the Bank for International Settlements. In this context, XRPL offers built-in support for issued assets like RLUSD alongside its native token.

How have Ripple and partners used XRP before this initiative?

Ripple has long leveraged XRP in its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution, now rebranded as Ripple Payments, using the token as a bridge asset for cross-border settlements. Through this system, financial institutions have processed billions of dollars, with Tranglo alone reporting over $1 billion in transactions facilitated by XRP in 2023.

This history of ripple xrp payments illustrates how the asset has moved from a purely speculative instrument toward a functional role in real-world money flows. Moreover, it sets a precedent for how new pilots, including the RLUSD initiative, might evolve if volumes scale over time.

Gemini and WebBank are not newcomers to XRPL-related products either. In August, Gemini, WebBank, Mastercard, and Ripple collaborated to launch the Gemini XRP Credit Card. The card is issued by WebBank, powered by Mastercard’s global network, and allows users to make purchases and earn cashback rewards directly in XRP.

What does the Gemini Credit Card reveal about future XRP adoption

The Gemini XRP Credit Card offers a concrete example of how consumer-facing products can incorporate XRP while still relying on existing card infrastructure. Users spend in traditional currencies, but their rewards accumulate in XRP, creating a subtle on-ramp into the ecosystem. However, this also showcases how card issuers and networks can experiment with digital assets without overhauling their core systems.

This earlier collaboration between Gemini, WebBank, Mastercard, and Ripple now feeds into a second joint venture: testing RLUSD settlement on the XRP Ledger. For First Ledger, this continuity signals a deepening technical and commercial relationship that could eventually support wider webbank xrp integration, depending on regulatory clarity and user demand.

Industry observers note that other blockchain and payment partnerships, such as those tracked by enterprise consortia, often start with limited pilots before expanding into production-scale usage. Moreover, XRPL’s long-standing performance profile and low fees make it a candidate for high-volume payment experiments.

Could this pilot accelerate broader XRP adoption in payments?

First Ledger believes the RLUSD experiment will ultimately highlight XRPL’s efficiency and, indirectly, XRP’s role within the network. Although the pilot focuses on a dollar-pegged stablecoin, every RLUSD transfer executed on XRPL will still incur XRP-denominated fees, reinforcing the asset’s infrastructural importance. That said, whether this translates into significant new demand for XRP remains an open question.

Market commentators often debate the link between on-chain activity and token valuation, and this pilot is unlikely to settle that argument alone. However, it does demonstrate that major entities such as Mastercard, WebBank, Gemini, and Ripple are willing to explore mastercard XRP settlement mechanics, at least at a pilot scale.

For now, the RLUSD initiative joins a growing list of experiments aimed at bridging traditional finance and blockchain. As highlighted in recent analyses by international financial institutions, these pilots serve as testbeds for regulation, technology, and market appetite.

What does First Ledger’s claim mean for XRP’s role?

In summary, First Ledger’s assertion rests on a technical reality of XRPL: every transaction, including RLUSD stablecoin payments, requires XRP to function. While RLUSD will appear as the primary settlement asset in the pilot with Mastercard, WebBank, Gemini, and Ripple, XRP remains the indispensable fuel of the ledger. Consequently, this experiment may not only validate stablecoin settlement on XRPL but also underscore XRP’s enduring relevance within the network’s economic design.