Ripple Expands RLUSD to Layer 2 Networks, Laying the Groundwork for Institutional DeFi

Ripple is pushing its stablecoin strategy beyond a single chain.

The company has announced it will begin testing its regulated stablecoin, $RLUSD, across multiple Layer 2 networks, including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, ahead of its official public launch next year, pending regulatory approval.

The announcement marks a significant expansion of Ripple’s stablecoin ambitions and signals a deeper push into multichain, institution-ready DeFi infrastructure.

RLUSD is not designed as a speculative experiment.

It is being built as regulated financial plumbing.

A Regulated Stablecoin Moves Multichain

RLUSD is issued under a New York trust framework, with Ripple confirming it operates under a New York State Department of Financial Services Trust Charter. That alone places it in a different category from most stablecoins circulating today.

Now, Ripple is extending that regulatory footing to Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem.

By testing RLUSD on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, Ripple is positioning the stablecoin to operate where most institutional DeFi activity already takes place. These networks offer lower fees, faster settlement, and deep liquidity , all critical for capital-heavy use cases.

If approved, RLUSD will become the first U.S. trust-regulated stablecoin available natively across these L2s, reinforcing Ripple’s compliance-first strategy.

This is not about chasing users.

It is about meeting institutions where they already are.

The Technology Shift: No More Risky Bridges

The expansion is powered by Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers (NTT) standard.

This detail matters more than it seems.

Traditional cross-chain bridges usually rely on wrapped assets. A token is locked on one chain, and a synthetic version is issued on another. That model introduces smart-contract risk, custodial risk, and a long history of exploits.

Wormhole’s NTT model works differently.

When RLUSD moves from one chain to another, the token is burned on the source chain and minted on the destination chain. No wrapped assets. No IOUs. No duplicated supply.

The result is simple but powerful.

Users hold the actual, regulated RLUSD on Base or Optimism, not a placeholder representation. For institutions, this distinction is critical. It preserves compliance, auditability, and asset integrity across chains.

This is infrastructure designed for balance sheets, not retail speculation.

Why This Matters for Institutional DeFi

Ripple’s Layer 2 strategy aligns with a broader shift in crypto markets.

Institutions are no longer asking whether to use DeFi. They are asking how to do it safely, compliantly, and at scale. Stablecoins sit at the center of that transition, acting as settlement layers, collateral assets, and liquidity anchors.

RLUSD’s design directly targets these requirements.

By combining U.S. trust-level regulation with native multichain deployment, Ripple is attempting to remove one of the biggest blockers to institutional DeFi participation: counterparty and infrastructure risk.

This approach also explains Ripple’s choice of networks. Optimism and Base are already integrated into major DeFi stacks. Unichain connects directly to Uniswap-native liquidity. Ink provides additional execution flexibility.

Together, they form a familiar environment for institutional capital.

The Overlooked XRP Angle

This is where the strategy becomes more interesting.

Ripple is coordinating the RLUSD rollout with Hex Trust, which is issuing wXRP (Wrapped XRP) on the same Layer 2 networks.

The goal is clear.

Ripple wants to establish deep liquidity pools pairing wXRP and RLUSD across these chains.

Today, XRP-based DeFi activity is largely constrained to the XRP Ledger. While efficient, XRPL is not where most institutional DeFi liquidity currently resides. Ethereum L2s are.

By deploying a regulated stablecoin alongside wrapped XRP on those networks, Ripple is creating a compliant “home base” for XRP within the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

This matters for demand.

If institutions can trade, lend, and deploy XRP using a regulated stablecoin on familiar L2 infrastructure, they no longer need to migrate workflows to a separate chain. Capital friction drops. Usage options expand.

XRP stops being isolated liquidity.

It becomes portable.

Early Signals: RLUSD Usage Is Already Growing

The strategy is not starting from zero.

According to Sentora HQ, the amount of RLUSD borrowed on Aave Horizon recently reached a new all-time high of $108,957,112.02.

That data point matters.

Borrowing activity reflects real demand. It signals that RLUSD is already being used as collateral and liquidity, not just held passively. As the stablecoin expands to Layer 2s, that demand could accelerate.

More venues. More strategies. More integration points.

And critically, more institutional participation.

The Bigger Picture

Ripple’s RLUSD expansion is not about launching “another stablecoin.”

It is about constructing regulated, multichain settlement infrastructure designed to support real capital at scale.

By avoiding wrapped assets, leaning into trust-level regulation, and pairing RLUSD with XRP liquidity across Ethereum L2s, Ripple is building bridges institutions actually want to cross.

Quietly. Methodically. Without hype.

This is how adoption usually happens.

Not with viral launches, but with compliant deployments, familiar rails, and infrastructure that works.

And if this model succeeds, RLUSD may become less about payments , and more about becoming a core settlement asset across institutional DeFi.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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