RLUSD Powers Through: Wall Street and Merchants Embrace Ripple's Stablecoin

Ripple's USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD is gaining significant traction across multiple levels of the financial ecosystem, from institutional clearing networks to everyday merchant payments. Recent developments showcase how the stablecoin is bridging traditional finance and consumer commerce, creating new demand pathways for XRP ecosystem adoption.

Hidden Road's DTCC Integration Creates Institutional Pathway

The most significant development centers around Ripple's $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road Partners, which has quietly positioned RLUSD within the heart of U.S. Treasury operations. Hidden Road joined the Government Securities Division (GSD) of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC), part of the DTCC, as a member in March 2025, just weeks before Ripple officially announced the acquisition.

This timing isn't coincidental. The membership grants Hidden Road access to a clearing system that processes over $11 trillion in daily U.S. Treasury trades. Under participant number #9388, Hidden Road can now participate in netting operations, repo transactions, and other critical Treasury market functions.

The scale becomes even more impressive when considering the broader context: DTCC clears and settles north of $3 quadrillion annually, while Hidden Road clears more than $3 trillion annually. With a portion of post-trade transactions being settled through the XRPL, this creates enormous potential for XRP utility and demand.

XRP community analyst Chad Steingraber has been vocal about the implications, noting that XRP will serve as the gas fee asset for XRPL infrastructure while RLUSD will serve as collateral on Hidden Road's platform. This creates a dual-token system where institutional operations drive demand for both assets.

Canton Network Milestone Demonstrates Real-World Utility

The broader institutional adoption story gained momentum with a groundbreaking transaction on the Canton Network. Digital Asset and major financial institutions completed the first real-time, fully on-chain financing of U.S. Treasuries against USDC on the Canton Network, executed on Tradeweb with near-instant, atomic settlement on a public blockchain, outside of traditional market hours, on weekends.

Members of the working group focused on advancing on-chain initiatives include: Bank of America, Circle, Citadel, Cumberland DRW, Digital Asset, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Hidden Road, Societe Generale, Tradeweb, and Virtu Financial. Notably, Hidden Road's participation demonstrates how Ripple's acquisition positions the company within this elite consortium of financial innovators.

This milestone represents more than a technical achievement. The transaction was conducted entirely on-chain, with USDC serving as the cash leg and on-chain UST as collateral, providing true 24/7 liquidity and eliminating the limitations of off-ledger cash and market-hour restrictions.

Mesh Expands RLUSD's Commercial Reach

While institutional adoption builds the foundation, RLUSD's expansion into merchant payments through Mesh creates consumer-facing utility. Mesh operates a payments network that connects cryptocurrency wallets with exchanges and payment service providers, enabling merchants to accept crypto payments while settling in stablecoins. Users can pay with major digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, while merchants can receive payments in stablecoins such as Circle's USDC, PayPal's PYUSD, and Ripple's RLUSD.

Mesh's recent $82 million Series B funding round, led by Paradigm, positions the platform for global expansion. CEO Bam Azizi stated: "Regulatory clarity is taking shape, institutions are leaning in, and stablecoins are booming. With this capital, we're expanding globally to making crypto payments as easy as using a credit card".

The platform's adoption of RLUSD alongside established stablecoins like USDC and PYUSD validates Ripple's positioning strategy. Adding to Mesh's momentum, the platform has also announced a partnership with E*TRADE, the pioneer of online trading for retail investors and now part of Morgan Stanley. This partnership further expands RLUSD's potential reach into mainstream financial services. Stablecoins have emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in crypto, reaching approximately $200 billion in market capitalization.

XRP/Ripple Analysis: Building a Multi-Layer Ecosystem

These developments create a comprehensive adoption framework for Ripple's ecosystem that extends far beyond simple payment processing. The institutional layer, anchored by Hidden Road's DTCC membership, provides legitimacy and regulatory compliance. The commercial layer, through platforms like Mesh, creates everyday utility and transaction volume.

According to Marc Asch, Founder and CEO of Hidden Road: "With new resources, licenses, and added risk capital, this deal will unlock significant growth in Hidden Road's business, allowing us to increase capacity to our customer base, expand into new products, and service more markets and asset classes. Together with Ripple, we're bringing the same level of trust and reliability that institutional clients are accustomed to in traditional markets — designed and optimized for a digital world."

Hidden Road will migrate its post-trade activity across XRPL to streamline operations and lower costs, demonstrating XRPL's potential as the go-to blockchain for institutional decentralized finance (DeFi). Ripple also sees the potential to optimize costs and liquidity in its cross-border payments solution, Ripple Payments, and provide custody services to Hidden Road's customers who need bank-grade digital asset custody.

For XRP price potential, this dual-track adoption strategy could prove significant. With XRP acting as the native bridge asset on the XRPL's built-in decentralized exchange, every settlement on the ledger generates demand for XRP. As institutional participants increasingly use XRPL infrastructure for post-trade processing, the cumulative demand for XRP as gas fees could create sustained upward pressure. The scale is noteworthy: with Hidden Road clearing $3 trillion annually and DTCC handling over $3 quadrillion, even a small percentage of transactions migrating to XRPL represents massive potential utility.

Ripple's business operations benefit from having both institutional-grade infrastructure and consumer-facing payment solutions. The Hidden Road acquisition transforms Ripple from a payments company into a financial infrastructure provider, while partnerships like Mesh extend RLUSD's reach into everyday commerce.

Partnership opportunities are expanding across traditional finance and crypto ecosystems. The Canton Network consortium demonstrates Ripple's ability to work alongside major financial institutions, while merchant payment integrations show versatility across market segments.

Adoption prospects appear increasingly favorable as both institutional and commercial use cases gain traction. RLUSD features built-in global enterprise utility that improves the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments, creating practical value propositions for diverse user bases.

Market Implications and Future Outlook

The convergence of institutional infrastructure and merchant adoption represents a maturation of the stablecoin market. Unlike purely speculative digital assets, RLUSD's dual-track utility creates tangible demand drivers across multiple market segments.

For the broader crypto market, these developments signal a shift toward practical application over theoretical potential. When major clearing corporations integrate crypto infrastructure and merchants accept stablecoins for everyday purchases, it demonstrates mainstream viability.

The regulatory environment continues improving, with stablecoins receiving increased clarity from authorities. This creates favorable conditions for expanded adoption across both institutional and consumer markets.

Conclusion

RLUSD's rapid integration across institutional clearing networks and merchant payment platforms demonstrates Ripple's strategic vision for ecosystem development. By simultaneously pursuing high-value institutional partnerships and broad-based commercial adoption, Ripple is creating multiple demand pathways that could drive sustained growth for both RLUSD and XRP.

The Hidden Road acquisition positions Ripple within the $11 trillion daily Treasury market, while Mesh integration brings RLUSD to everyday commerce. Together, these developments showcase how Ripple is building comprehensive financial infrastructure rather than pursuing isolated use cases.

Key Takeaways: RLUSD is rapidly gaining adoption across both institutional and commercial channels, with Hidden Road's DTCC membership providing access to $11 trillion in daily Treasury operations while Mesh integration enables merchant payments. This dual-track strategy creates multiple demand drivers for the broader XRP ecosystem, positioning Ripple as a comprehensive financial infrastructure provider rather than just a payments company.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any securities. Investments in cryptocurrencies or other financial assets carry significant risks, including the potential for total loss, extreme volatility, and regulatory uncertainty. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified financial professional and conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions.

Sources

1. The Crypto Basic - "XRP Army Uncovers Ripple's Hidden Road Link to $11T US Treasury Clearing Network" (May 22, 2025)
2. The Crypto Basic - "Pundit Says XRP Ledger is Coming for DTCC's $100T: Here's Why" (June 19, 2025)
3. CaptainAltcoin - "XRP Army Finds the Clue: Ripple Just Got Closer to the Core of U.S. Capital Flows" (May 23, 2025)
4. Ledger Insights - "Ripple to acquire crypto prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion" (April 8, 2025)
5. CoinDesk - "Crypto Payments Firm Mesh Raises $82M as Stablecoin Adoption Soars" (March 11, 2025)
6. Digital Asset/Tradeweb - "Digital Asset and Industry Working Group Complete Groundbreaking On-Chain US Treasury Financing on Canton Network" (August 12, 2025)
7. PYMNTS - "Ripple Begins Adding RLUSD Stablecoin to Cross-Border Payment Solution" (April 2, 2025)
8. Fintech Magazine - "Ripple Debuts RLUSD Stablecoin Globally, Adds Key Advisors" (December 17, 2024)