Ripple Expands Its Stablecoin Payments Infra with $200M Rail Acquisition – Crypto News – Crypto News
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Ripple Expands Its Stablecoin Payments Infra with $200M Rail Acquisition Ripple Expands Its Stablecoin Payments Infra with $200M Rail Acquisition

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Ripple Expands Its Stablecoin Payments Infra with $200M Rail Acquisition – Crypto News

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The company will use stablecoin platform Rail’s infrastructure and company history to bolster its standing in the stablecoin race.

Ripple Labs, the team behind XRP and USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, announced today, Aug. 7, the acquisition of stablecoin platform Rail in a $200 million deal.

The move is meant to support Ripple’s goal of becoming the leader in digital payments and its underlying infrastructure, per the firm’s official press release.

By acquiring Rail, Ripple has access to an array of benefits for its payments business, such as stablecoin on- and off-ramps, virtual accounts, a network of new banking partners, and enhanced liquidity for digital assets in the ecosystem, namely RLUSD and XRP.

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, which launched in December, is currently the 15th largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with a $612.7 million market capitalization, per CoinGecko data. Just over 89% of its circulating supply exists on Ethereum, with the remaining supply on the XRP Ledger blockchain, per DefiLlama data.

The Rail acquisition potentially opens up the door to more RLUSD usage, as it enables virtual accounts and collections, meaning customers will be able use digital assets without needing accounts on centralized exchanges or dedicated crypto banks.

XRP Holds Steady

While RLUSD fights for its market share in the stablecoin race, the XRP token maintains its position as the third-largest asset in cryptocurrency, with a $180.1 billion market capitalization, only trailing Bitcoin and Ethereum, which boast $2.3 trillion and $436 billion valuations respectively.

Despite the news and BTC’s 1% rise today, XRP is only up 1.8% today, while ETH is up 4.7% over the same period.

Top Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap. Source: CoinGecko

Ripple president Monica Long said in a statement: “Stablecoins are quickly becoming a cornerstone of modern finance, and with Rail, we are uniquely positioned to drive the next phase of innovation and adoption of stablecoins and blockchain in global payments.”

The company also announced its application for a national bank charter in July, following USDC issuer Circle’s application for a national trust bank charter at the end of June.

If approved, holding a national bank charter would allow Ripple to act as a trustee or custodian for itself of other entities. Ripple is also applying for a Master Account with the Federal Reserve, which would let the firm custody assets directly with the U.S. central bank.

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