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Ripple CTO David Schwartz recently addressed speculation surrounding the RLUSD stablecoin. In a tweet, Schwartz indicated that RLUSD might likely be accessible only to institutions, at least initially.

In his tweet, Schwartz stated, "It will probably only ever be available directly to institutions. Can you get USDC from Circle or USDT from Tether? Because I can't."

Schwartz was responding to an X user who asked if RLUSD could be only available, at least initially, to institutions and not crypto retail.

The X user proposed that restricting RLUSD to institutional access could protect it from risks linked to other stablecoins, like USDT, which has been criticized for alleged connections to money laundering and concerns over its stability.

Schwartz further addressed concerns about potential manipulation of the RLUSD stablecoin, stating, "I don't think that's likely to happen except maybe in very early test phases before anyone is really using it to move or store value."

Ripple USD (RLUSD) is currently being tested in private beta on XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet. As reported, the Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse at a recent XRPL event indicated that the Ripple stablecoin was gearing much closer to its release, suggesting a timeline of "weeks."

As RLUSD moves closer to its anticipated launch, Schwartz’s statements offer insight into Ripple’s cautious approach to rolling out RLUSD.

Ripple USD stablecoin

In April, Ripple announced plans to introduce a stablecoin tied 1:1 to the USD on XRP Ledger and Ethereum. This initiative is intended to broaden Ripple's reach into institutional and DeFi markets, diversify use cases and improve its payments infrastructure, bringing traditional and decentralized finance closer together.

Stablecoins are an important entry point into DeFi, and adding an enterprise-grade stablecoin to XRP Ledger is expected to increase use cases, liquidity and opportunity for developers and consumers alike.

Ripple's stablecoin will be fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, U.S. government bonds and cash equivalents, and Ripple promises transparency through monthly third-party attestations to ensure confidence and reliability.

Aside from the RLUSD stablecoin, Ripple and the broader XRP community intend to introduce more programmability, including smart contracts, to the XRPL developer ecosystem in 2025, both through the XRPL EVM sidechain and by exploring native capabilities on the XRPL mainnet.