Ripple's Stablecoin Push Hits a Wall as Washington Gridlock Weighs on XRP
Published on 07/25/2026 at 03:31 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The numbers tell a story of two diverging trajectories. Ripple is aggressively building out the infrastructure for its dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, launching automated minting platforms and forging compliance partnerships. Yet the very metric that matters most — actual usage — is heading in the opposite direction, with monthly transfer volumes sliding by a quarter.
XRP itself is trading at $1.09, barely above its 52-week low of $1.01 and roughly 69% below the July 2025 peak of $3.55. The relative strength index sits at 45.8, squarely in neutral territory, reflecting a market that is waiting for a catalyst rather than driving one.
The Infrastructure Gets Smarter, the Volumes Get Smaller
Ripple's latest move is Ripple Mint, an automated platform that lets institutional clients create, redeem, and transfer RLUSD across networks through a web console or API. Previously, these processes required manual coordination with Ripple and waiting periods for processing. Now, companies can trigger minting and redemptions directly from their own systems, with end-to-end tracking from dollar transfer to on-chain settlement.
The stablecoin is also expanding its reach. Through Wormhole's bridge technology, RLUSD is being deployed on more than 40 networks, including Base, Optimism, Ink, Unichain, and the XRPL EVM sidechain. The total circulating supply stands at roughly $1.51 billion, backed by reserves of $1.62 billion.
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On the compliance front, Ripple has taken a strategic stake in Notabene, a network that connects more than 2,300 institutions across over 100 jurisdictions and processes annual transactions worth more than $2 trillion. RLUSD is being integrated into Notabene Flow, a platform for corporate payments. Jack McDonald, a Ripple executive, framed the partnership as a way to close the trust gap that continues to hinder broader institutional adoption.
Yet for all this activity, the usage data is sobering. RLUSD's market capitalization has slipped nearly 5% over the past month. The monthly transfer volume has dropped from $14.6 billion to $11 billion — a decline of roughly 25%. The number of holders rose 6% and active addresses surged 70%, but that growth in wallet count has not translated into more money moving through the system. More people are holding RLUSD, but fewer are using it for transactions.
Washington's Clock Is Ticking
The broader headwind for XRP is playing out in the US Senate. Galaxy Research cut its probability for passage of the Clarity Act 2026 from 50% to 30% on Friday. Analyst Alex Thorn at Galaxy Digital cited the tight legislative calendar. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated that a final vote before the August recess is unlikely. The bill runs 616 pages, and seven Democratic senators have raised concerns that it does not go far enough, particularly regarding ethics rules around crypto income.
With Congress heading into its summer break at the end of July or early August, time is running short. For XRP, whose market prospects are closely tied to regulatory clarity for digital assets in the United States, the delay acts as a drag on sentiment.
A Win in Europe, But Not a Panacea
On the other side of the Atlantic, Ripple secured a full license as a crypto-asset service provider from Luxembourg's CSSF under the EU's MiCA framework. The authorization grants passporting rights across 30 countries in the European Economic Area, allowing Ripple to offer its services without seeking individual national approvals.
The European Securities and Markets Authority, however, issued a caution about what it calls a "halo effect" — a license does not protect investors from price losses, and operational oversight remains with national authorities. The regulatory green light opens doors, but it does not guarantee that institutions will walk through them.
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Where the XRP Price Goes From Here
Whether the institutional infrastructure around RLUSD translates into direct price support for XRP remains an open question. One analyst noted that Ripple is initially rolling out RLUSD on other chains like Solana and Base, and XRP only benefits if volume actually flows onto the XRP Ledger. A price target of $6 would require a 466% gain from current levels — and analysts say the actual demand for XRP itself has yet to be demonstrated.
On the investment side, XRP funds continue to attract capital, with roughly $8 million in inflows this week alone. Wellgistics Health, a healthcare company, filed an S-1 with the SEC that outlines plans to use XRP as a treasury reserve asset and collateral for credit, as well as for real-time payments over the XRP Ledger, backed by a $50 million credit facility from LDA Capital.
The futures market shows a split among large holders. Some addresses have been accumulating, while others have moved significant positions to exchanges in recent months. For the near term, the trajectory of the Senate debate over the Clarity Act is likely to be the dominant factor. Until that picture clears, XRP appears stuck between an expanding ecosystem and a political calendar that is working against it.
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