Ripple Burns 46 Million RLUSD as It Awaits Regulatory Approval

The anticipation for the final launch of Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD, has gone off the roof. A recent report showed that the blockchain firm has burned almost all the available tokens. This is a major sign and one of the final steps before the coin's public launch.

Anticipation for the final launch of Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, has reached fever pitch after a recent report showed that the blockchain firm has burned almost all the available tokens. This is a major sign and one of the final steps before the coin’s public launch.

Ripple Burns 46 Million RLUSD as It Awaits Regulatory Approval

According to Ripple’s stablecoin tracker, about 46.6 million RLUSD stablecoins were burned at the treasury earlier this week, leaving only 100,000 coins on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger.

Following the report, the XRP community began speculating about an imminent announcement of the official launch date of the coin. However, everything is not entirely clear on that aspect.

In a recent interview, Monica Long, Ripple’s president, highlighted that while everything is ready for launch, regulatory approval is still pending. Particularly, she noted that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is yet to give clearance to go public.

Without this clearance, the anticipated public launch of the stablecoin may be delayed.

Ripple’s Entry Into a Dominated Stablecoin Market

The stablecoin sector has grown significantly over the years with major players like Tether (USDT), and Circle (USDC) taking center stage in the nearly $200 billion market. USDT takes up the majority of the market share with about $133 billion valuation, while USDC holds about $40 billion.

Ripple plans to enter this already-dominated market with its new RLUSD stablecoin. The company initially announced its intention to compete in this space in April 2024, utilizing its expanding XRPL blockchain solution and offering a better alternative to what is already available.

In August 2024, Ripple began testing the functionalities of the stablecoin in its Beta phase. At the time, few enterprises were partnered with for this purpose to ensure that the coin functions properly.

Ripple announced that RLUSD was available on XRPL and the Ethereum blockchain but would be accessible on other ecosystems upon launch to ensure wider adoption.

RLUSD to Launch this Year?

The recent burning of the RLUSD tokens at the Treasury has heightened speculations about an imminent launch. Monica Long also suggested in her interview that RLUSD might see the light of day by the end of 2024, however, no specific date was given.

XRP community members have rallied on social media, speculating that the recent burn is the final sign before it goes live. They opined that RLUSD could be launched quicker than expected. One user particularly, Dfinn, suggested that RLUSD might be launched before the end of this week.

However, it is important to note that regulatory approval is the ultimate deciding factor for the launch of the coin. If the regulatory nod comes soon, then Ripple might schedule the launch for this year, if not, then we would have to continue waiting.