Ripple, the provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, and Circle, a global financial technology firm and issuer of USDC, announced a partnership bringing USDC to the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
The XRPL is a decentralized, layer-1 blockchain “developed for the efficient tokenization and exchange of value including crypto and real-world assets.”
USDC is a fully reserved stablecoin, “redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars.”
Ripple and Circle believe in a future where “financial ecosystems are interoperable.”
Bringing USDC — a regulated stablecoin — directly to the XRPL can help boost the ledger’s utility, “expand onchain liquidity, and unlock new avenues for innovation.”
Markus Infanger, Senior Vice President, RippleX said:
“Stablecoins are key entry points connecting traditional financial markets with the crypto space – essential for use cases focused on utility rather than speculation. Regulated stablecoins like USDC coming to the XRPL, will enable new institutional and retail use cases by leveraging the ledger’s built-in capabilities for compliance, tokenization, low-cost settlement, and seamless on/off-ramps.”
Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Circle:
“Launching USDC on the XRPL unlocks new possibilities for developers to build seamless, real-world financial applications. We are excited for USDC to help drive utility and innovation across the XRPL ecosystem.”
The XRPL is a blockchain purpose-built to “provide a strong foundation for stablecoins and institutional-grade DeFi due to its proven reliability, efficiency, and security.”
Over the past decade, the XRPL has processed over “3.3 billion transactions without failure or security breach since 2012 while supporting over five million active wallets with a network of over 200 validators.”
The XRPL’s native capabilities, such as a decentralized exchange (DEX) and auto-bridging feature, “leverage XRP as an essential bridge currency, facilitating efficient trading with USDC.”
With low transaction costs and quick global settlements, the XRPL is suited to support “an abundance of USDC use cases, making it an ideal blockchain for businesses and developers to leverage.”
Following the launch, the XRPL community can now “leverage USDC for institutional and retail use cases including cross-border payments, remittances, and DeFi applications, helping drive wider adoption of the XRPL.”
Ripple also intends to continue “using USDC alongside RLUSD in its flagship payments solution.”
To date, Ripple Payments has reportedly served “$70 billion in payments volume and counting, and has near-global coverage with 90+ payout markets, which represent more than 90% coverage of the daily FX markets.”