According to U.Today, Ripple has initiated closed beta testing for its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD). The announcement was made through a short video on Ripple's official X account, part of the “Crypto In One Minute” series. In the video, Ripple's president Monica Long explained the concept of stablecoins to the crypto community, describing them as blockchain tokens that represent real-world currencies with a one-to-one peg. She highlighted the U.S. dollar as a popular example of a stablecoin.
The beta testing of RLUSD, which began earlier this week, involves a selected group of Ripple’s corporate partners. During this phase, the stablecoin cannot be bought or sold. Ripple plans to launch RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, Ethereum, and other blockchains once it receives final regulatory approval.
The stability of stablecoins has been a topic of discussion, especially with the popularity of Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, both backed by U.S. dollars. Tether also uses U.S. Treasuries to back its stablecoin. However, USDC experienced a brief depeg from the dollar last year when three major U.S. banks collapsed. USDT has also faced scrutiny regarding its USD reserves. The distrust in stablecoins is partly due to a general distrust in the fiat financial system and the growing U.S. national debt, which has reached $35 trillion. This distrust was exacerbated in May 2022 when the algorithmic UST stablecoin from the Terra blockchain crashed, losing its $1 peg and causing a significant downturn in the crypto market.
