The XRP Ledger held $1.338 billion in tracked stablecoins on Oct. 7, but that figure alone cannot show how much demand the network creates for XRP, its native token.
The distinction matters because stablecoin balances measure assets held on the ledger, while XRP demand depends on how transactions are processed, how many accounts and ledger objects exist, and whether users or intermediaries retain XRP as liquidity inventory. According to CryptoSlate, the available ecosystem data does not quantify those relationships.
Stablecoin scale is not the same as XRP demand
DefiLlama’s snapshot showed Ripple’s dollar-denominated stablecoin, RLUSD, represented 93.17% of tracked stablecoins on XRPL. The same data set reported $43.44 million locked in decentralized finance, $3.91 million in 24-hour decentralized-exchange volume and $528 in 24-hour network fees.
Those figures describe different economic activities. Stablecoin supply is a stock or balance, decentralized-exchange volume measures turnover, and fees represent the cost of processing transactions. Combining them as though they were equivalent could mix unlike measurements and potentially count the same assets more than once.
Ripple’s Oct. 1 transparency figures put total RLUSD circulation at $2,509.8 million, backed by $2,633.8 million in reserve funds. That total covers RLUSD on all supported blockchains, rather than only the XRP Ledger. Ripple says the reserves consist of dollars and cash equivalents.
Stablecoins, tokenized funds and records for securities can therefore keep their principal value in assets other than XRP. The ledger’s native token is still needed for certain network functions, but the value of an asset recorded or transferred on XRPL does not automatically translate into an equivalent requirement to buy or hold XRP.
Where XRPL requires XRP
XRPL’s standard minimum transaction cost is 10 drops, or 0.00001 XRP, before any adjustment for network load. Fees are destroyed. Congestion and some special transactions can require more, while an eligible key-reset transaction may be free.
The fee is tied to the processing cost of the transaction, not directly to the value being moved. A transfer involving a larger amount of a stablecoin does not, by itself, cause the XRP fee to rise proportionally.
Account and ledger-object reserves create another source of XRP balances. The current requirement is 1 XRP per account and generally 0.2 XRP per qualifying owned ledger object. The first two trust lines are exempt when an account is funded with only the 1 XRP base reserve; additional funding brings normal charges.
These reserves rise with the number of accounts and ledger objects, while transaction fees use XRP through burning. Neither mechanism is measured by the dollar value of stablecoins on the network.
Tokenization examples also illustrate the separation. Ondo’s OUSG tokenized Treasury product launched on XRPL in June 2025, with subscriptions and redemptions using RLUSD. In an Aug. 3, 2026 announcement concerning ZILO and Licuido, Ripple described RLUSD as the cash leg for delivery-versus-payment transactions and tokenized funds as collateral.
In Brazil, Ripple said on Sept. 29, 2026, that securities infrastructure operator CSD BR would initially mirror BTG Pactual fund-share records on XRPL. CSD BR’s own systems remain the official systems for registration, deposit and settlement during that phase. Native issuance and trading among authorized participants are planned only after the mirroring stage is validated.
The bigger question is XRP inventory
XRP can play a more direct role when it is used as a bridge between issued assets or currencies. Auto-bridging may connect markets through XRP when that route is cheaper, although direct routes or combinations of routes are also possible. Cross-currency payments can likewise use XRP conversion paths.
A bridge transaction may require XRP to be bought on one side and sold on the other, creating a temporary need for the token. But the aggregate turnover does not reveal how much XRP intermediaries keep available between transactions. A direct XRP payment can also simply move existing balances, without proving that a new market purchase or net accumulation occurred.
Automated-market-maker pools provide another measurable form of inventory when they contain XRP. Liquidity providers can redeem their pool shares, while pools made up of two issued assets hold their trading principal in those assets rather than XRP.
As a result, the key missing measurements are the proportion of network activity routed through XRP, the amount of XRP committed to liquidity pools and the length of time those balances remain there. The $1.338 billion stablecoin figure establishes the scale of tracked assets, but not the amount of XRP required to support them.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 11:13-11:14 on Oct. 9, 2026, showed XRP at $1.3859846065, down 0.76% over 24 hours and 10.05% over seven days.
The same Moneyiar snapshot put STABLE at $0.0253210471, down 3.34% in 24 hours and 10.38% over seven days; TEL at $0.0018623859, down 1.83% and 13.91%, respectively; and BAS at $0.0227391347, up 0.34% over 24 hours but down 4.27% over seven days.
