Ripple’s Multichain Push Expands RLUSD Stablecoin Reach To Ethereum L2s via Wormhole

Ripple has announced a move to push its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, deeper into the multichain ecosystem. As part of the move, Ripple has partnered with Wormhole to pilot test the RLUSD stablecoin on Ethereum layer-2 (L2) blockchains, including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain.

Ripple Begins Multichain Push for RLUSD Stablecoin

Ripple, the payment-focused crypto project, has announced a pilot program that will see its U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin RLUSD integrated into Ethereum layer-2 blockchains. The pilot will test RLUSD on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain in partnership with Wormhole, a cross-chain interoperability protocol enabling the movement of assets between blockchains, Ripple said in a press release. 

According to Ripple, the multichain push will put its RLUSD stablecoin at the center of its institutional on-chain roadmap. Also, by expanding into more blockchains, Ripple looks to strengthen the liquidity and flexibility of RLUSD within the stablecoin market.

Ripple described its push into Optimism as a “crucial entry point,” considering that several L2 networks rely on Optimism’s OP Stack for scaling as part of a so-called Superchain. According to Ripple, RLUSD will be introduced to additional chains in the next year, although a final regulatory approval of the launch is still pending.

The issuance of RLUSD is in accordance with the New York Department of Financial Services Trust Company Charter on the state level, with the company seeking a federal trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as well to introduce Federal regulation.

Wormhole Will Avoid Using Wrapped Copies of RLUSD 

While it’s common for interoperable tokens to use wrapped versions of themselves on the new blockchain, the Wormhole team will take a different approach for RLUSD. In an X post, Wormhole announced that they will employ the Native Token Transfers (NNT) standard for RLUSD.

The NNT standard will allow RLUSD to be transferred across blockchains as the actual token rather than a synthesized or wrapped copy, which will aid in keeping liquidity. With certain multichain configurations, as a token is transferred, the original one is locked on its original blockchain, and a wrapped copy variant is created on a different blockchain.

The Wormhole team said that with NTT, token issuers do not need fragmented liquidity or wrapped assets and instead can have a single canonical version of RLUSD, which exists natively on every blockchain, with Ripple owning the contracts.

Ripple is Positioning RLUSD for the Future

The crypto future is clearly multichain, and to be able to serve institutional finance, as well as the expanding on-chain economy, stablecoins have to exist everywhere the demand and utility exist. The Ripple team added that the necessity to have a highly regulated stablecoin is greater than ever, as chains are still being built to be used in real-world applications.

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s SVP of stablecoins, said that these assets will be the “gateway to DeFi and institutional adoption.” By going multichain, McDonald said Ripple isn’t just expanding utility; they are also setting the definitive standard where compliance and on-chain efficiency converge. The expansion could support RLUSD’s increasing use, including by institutional investors and other consumer-facing services.