Moody’s has assigned Ripple USD (RLUSD) an A2 long-term deposit rating and a P-1 short-term deposit rating, adding institutional recognition for the dollar-backed stablecoin one day after Ripple received final approval for a national trust bank from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
RLUSD is issued by Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Company. Moody’s said the ratings reflect the quality of the token’s reserves, which are held primarily in Treasury bills, other short-term U.S. government assets and cash. Most of the reserves are held with custodian BNY. The issuer targets reserves equal to 103% of RLUSD tokens in circulation, while eligible institutional holders can redeem the stablecoin at par within two business days.
According to Decrypt, the ratings were requested by Ripple’s issuer. A2 is Moody’s sixth-highest long-term rating, while P-1 is the agency’s highest short-term rating. The grades therefore distinguish the quality and liquidity of the assets supporting RLUSD, rather than representing a guarantee that the token cannot lose its dollar peg.
Oversight and holder protections
The OCC’s final approval allows Ripple National Trust Bank to manage RLUSD’s reserves and serve as their collateral trustee. Standard Custody will continue issuing RLUSD under the supervision of the New York Department of Financial Services. The arrangement places different parts of the stablecoin’s operations under both state and federal oversight.
Moody’s also identified limits in the protection currently available to holders. Standard Custody is not a bankruptcy-remote entity, and RLUSD holders do not presently hold a direct ownership interest in the reserves. The agency noted that the GENIUS Act, a U.S. stablecoin law scheduled to take effect in 2027, will exclude required reserves from an issuer’s bankruptcy estate.
A stablecoin is a digital token designed to maintain a stable value against an asset such as the U.S. dollar. RLUSD was launched in December 2024 on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger. Its market capitalization is about $2.6 billion, according to CoinGecko, compared with an overall stablecoin market of roughly $300 billion.
Ripple’s institutional strategy
Ripple has positioned RLUSD primarily for institutional use rather than retail trading. Earlier in October, Standard Chartered began offering institutional custody of RLUSD through its Dubai branch. It also said it was working with Ripple and LMAX Group on a “collateral mirroring” arrangement that would allow clients to use RLUSD as trading collateral without transferring the token off the bank’s books.
Ripple, Mastercard, WebBank and Gemini also announced in November 2025 that they were exploring RLUSD settlement on the XRP Ledger for fiat transactions linked to the Gemini Credit Card, subject to regulatory approvals. RLUSD had a market capitalization above $1 billion at that time.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data recorded the following figures at the stated times:
- XRP: $1.2991099051, up 0.56% over 24 hours and 0.09% over seven days, as of October 25, 2026, at 22:38 +03:30.
- RLUSD: $0.9999277618, down 0.01% over 24 hours and 0.01% over seven days, as of October 25, 2026, at 22:39 +03:30.
These figures are market data supplied by Moneyiar and are not Moody’s ratings or a forecast of future performance.
