Ripple intends to introduce Real-Legal US Dollars (RLUSD) in Japan

Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, a major competitor to Circle's offering in the Japanese market, is making significant strides in the region. Last week, Ripple minted another 24 million tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, marking a continuation of its efforts in the stablecoin sector.

In a partnership announced early this year, Ripple is bringing RLUSD to the Japanese market in collaboration with SBI VC Trade. SBI Holdings, the financial institution behind SBI VC Trade, will act as the distributor for the RLUSD stablecoin in Japan. The introduction of RLUSD is expected to be a "major step" towards making stablecoins more convenient and reliable in the Japanese market, according to SBI VC Trade CEO Tomohiko Kondo.

Ripple's Vice President of Stablecoins, Jack McDonald, expressed hope that RLUSD would set a new "benchmark" for the entire market. According to CoinGecko, RLUSD, which was officially launched last December, currently boasts a market cap of $667 million.

Meanwhile, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, also announced the launch of their stablecoin in Japan in partnership with SBI VC in March. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan has also allowed local fintech firm JPYC to issue the first stablecoin pegged to the yen, but no further details about JPYC or its stablecoin were provided.

Despite the latest historic move, Ripple's RLUSD volume collapsed 40%. No new information about the market cap, minting, usage, or volume of RLUSD was provided in this regard. Additionally, Ripple's RLUSD token could also be part of Ripple's credit facility for the Gemini trading platform, although no specific details about this were disclosed.

The use of RLUSD in the initial public offering (IPO) settlement of crypto exchange Bullish further underscores Ripple's commitment to the stablecoin market. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Ripple's RLUSD performs in the competitive Japanese stablecoin landscape.