On 27 November 2025, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) regulator recognized RLUSD as an “Accepted Fiat‑Referenced Token”. The decision authorizes its use by entities licensed by the ADGM and integrates the stablecoin into regulated activities, with RLUSD maintaining a 1:1 parity with the US dollar. This move positions RLUSD as an operational alternative for payments and settlements among institutions.
Regulatory framework and scope of RLUSD authorization
The classification by the ADGM financial authority grants explicit permission to licensed entities to incorporate RLUSD into their regulated operations within Abu Dhabi’s financial market. The recognition places the stablecoin within a compliant framework for institutional use, aligning its deployment with ADGM’s rules for entities operating in the jurisdiction.
RLUSD debuted on 17 December 2024 and accumulated multi‑jurisdiction recognition prior to the ADGM decision. It received approval from the New York Department of Financial Services in December 2024, gained approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority in March 2025, and was enabled for use in the Dubai International Financial Centre in June 2025.
Technical definition: A stablecoin is a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value against a fiat currency through collateral and backing mechanisms.
Institutional adoption poses operational obligations and market‑structure considerations. Participants operating RLUSD in regulated jurisdictions face requirements for reserve transparency, external audit, segregated custody and enhanced KYC/AML procedures. Its growth —with a circulating supply exceeding 1.200 million dollars and ranking among the ten largest stablecoins by capitalization— raises practical questions about substitution of use relative to XRP and possible effects on liquidity and market structures.
Design, custody, ecosystem and regional partnerships
RLUSD is a stablecoin backed 1:1 by dollars and cash equivalents and is issued on the XRP Ledger. It is optimized for enterprise use cases such as payments, settlements, collateral management, trade finance, remittances and corporate treasury, aligning the token’s structure with institutional operational needs.
Its technological integration broadens operational reliability and access. RLUSD has been integrated into Ripple Payments since 7 April 2025 and receives pricing from external oracles through an agreement with Chainlink activated on 1 August 2025.
Custody of reserves was entrusted to BNY Mellon on 9 July 2025. This arrangement responds to traceability and asset segregation requirements, reinforcing the control environment around reserve management.
To facilitate interoperability with tokenized assets, RLUSD integrated with Securitize. The connection allows 24/7 redemptions for institutional investors in tokenized funds, including BUIDL from BlackRock and VBILL from VanEck.
Institutional distribution has expanded through agreements across multiple regions. In Africa, partnerships with Chipper Cash, VALR and Yellow Card (consolidated on 4 September 2025) seek to operate with RLUSD in institutional flows; in Korea, the custody firm BDACS formalized a collaboration on 28 February 2025; in the Middle East, initiatives by Bahrain Fintech Bay support regional adoption. AEON has enabled real‑world payments with RLUSD, extending its utility beyond purely financial cases.
Market traction is reflected in capitalization and growing institutional use. Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, stated: “With a capitalization exceeding 1.000 million dollars and growing adoption in uses such as collateral and payments, RLUSD is rapidly becoming a reference stablecoin for institutions.”
ADGM approval formalizes an institutional route for RLUSD and reinforces its network of custodians and partners. The operational impact falls on custodians, exchanges and issuers, who will need to adapt compliance controls and reporting. Next milestone: monitoring operational deployment in ADGM‑licensed entities and independent verification of reserves and audits.
