To invest in Ripple USD (RLUSD), you need an account with a specialised crypto exchange as, at the moment, mainstream investment platforms like eToro only offer trading in XRP, rather than RLUSD.
RLUSD is a stablecoin, the value of which is pegged to $1. Stablecoins are cryptoassets programmed to be exchangeable for a specific value in another asset, though there have been several examples of stablecoins failing.
The token was first made available on exchanges Uphold, Bitso, MoonPay, Archax, and CoinMENAlistings on 16 December.
Following its launch, other exchanges including Bullish, Bitstamp, Mercado Bitcoin, Independent Reserve, and Zero Hash were slated to enable trading in the following weeks.
Only Uphold, MoonPay, Archax and Bitstamp are among the the UK regulated crypto exchanges or platforms that we have compared and reviewed at the Good Money Guide.
Readers should take care to do research about any crypto exchange they use as well as the tokens they trade in.
RLUSD sees surge in trading volume
RRLUSD saw its trading volume surge more 2,000% over the weekend.
According to data from CoinMarketCap the token’s total 24-hour trading volume was above $600 million as of Sunday, which makes it the fourth most-traded stablecoin product. This is despite the stablecoin having a market cap of just $53 million.
The cryptocurrency’s trading volume has since fallen back down to around $22 million as of Tuesday, meaning the surge was temporary.
Nearly all of the surge in trading volume originated from crypto exchange Bullish, which recently enabled trading in RLUSD, suggesting that a few big owners of the coin were responsible.
RLUSD’s launch
RLUSD was launched by crypto transaction fintech Ripple with the aim of supporting its development of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions.
Ripple said the cryptocurrency would provide benefits to institutions including facilitating the instant settlement of cross-border payments and offering a bridge between traditional fiat currencies and the crypto ecosystem.
On RLUSD’s launch Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse saidL “As the U.S. moves toward clearer regulations, we expect to see greater adoption of stablecoins such as RLUSD, which offer real utility and are backed by years of trust and expertise in the industry.”
Ripple is also backed by another cryptocurrency, XRP, which has been the subject of an ongoing lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which views it as an unregistered security.
Robin has more than six years of experience as a financial journalist, most of which were spent at Citywire, and covers the latest developments in the investing, trading and currency transfer space. Outside of work, he enjoys reading literature and philosophy and playing the piano.
You can contact Robin at robin@goodmoneyguide.com
