Ripple’s RLUSD Gains Cardano Access via Cross-Chain Bridge Integration

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is now available in the Cardano ecosystem through an integration by the cross-chain bridge Wanchain. This development comes amid the Cardano ecosystem’s plans to integrate more stablecoins on the network, while Ripple is also eyeing expansion of its stablecoin beyond the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum.

Ripple’s RLUSD Now Available On The Cardano Network

In an X post, Wanchain revealed that its cross-chain bridge now supports the RLUSD stablecoin. With the integration, users will be able to bridge the stablecoin directly from the XRPL network to the Cardano network. Furthermore, they can bridge the stablecoin from Ethereum to Cardano.

Additionally, users can bridge Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on XRPL or Ethereum to Wanchain and then route it from the bridge to the Cardano network. The bridge also enables bridging from the XRPL to the top Layer-1 network, Ethereum.

It is worth noting that RLUSD is currently issued natively only on the XRPL and Ethereum networks. However, Ripple announced plans last year to expand the stablecoin to Ethereum layer-2 networks, including Base, Optimism, Unichain, and Ink. The firm also noted that testing on these chains will begin in partnership with Wormhole.

RLUSD currently ranks as the 8th largest stablecoin, with a market cap of $1.5 billion. Most of the stablecoin’s supply currently sits on the Ethereum network, while 382 million tokens are in circulation on the XRP Ledger.

Boost For Cardano’s Ecosystem

Ripple’s RLUSD becomes the second tier-1 stablecoin available to Cardano users, following USDC’s launch on the network earlier this year. It is worth noting that Cardano’s stablecoin market cap has climbed to $50 million following the launch of USDC.

The network’s DeFi TVL had also climbed when USDC launched on the network and could rise again, with network users now able to access RLUSD through the cross-chain bridge. Interestingly, Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, has long teased plans to integrate RLUSD natively into the network, though that has yet to happen.

Meanwhile, amid RLUSD gaining access to the Cardano ecosystem, Cardano stakeholder Input Output has put nine proposals forward in a bid to scale the network. Notably, none of them focuses on stablecoin integrations, with the highlight being the Leios upgrade, which developers aim to use to scale the network to 27 million monthly transactions by 2030.