Ripple Increases Total Supply to $2.3 Billion with Minting of 11 Million RLUSD Tokens
On August 31, Ripple engaged in another round of treasury activities involving RLUSD, which included the minting of 11 million tokens alongside a separate burn of the same amount.
Summary
- On August 31, 11 million RLUSD tokens were minted and an equal amount was burned at treasury addresses.
- As of August 31, CoinGecko estimated RLUSD’s circulating supply and market capitalization to be around $2.37 billion.
- As of August 20, Ripple reported a circulating supply of $1.87 billion against reserves of $1.98 billion.
- Treasury mints generate tokens but do not autonomously verify circulation, customer demand, or completed issuance.
- Ethereum and XRP Ledger continue to be the primary networks for RLUSD, even though Ripple also facilitates several other blockchain implementations.
The Ripple Stablecoin Tracker documented these transactions, which occurred following a series of substantial operations on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum in the closing days of August.
The market valuation of RLUSD remained close to its target peg of $1, indicating that the increase in supply, rather than a rise in price, was responsible for this higher valuation as per CoinGecko’s estimate of approximately $2.37 billion in circulation on August 31.
RLUSD minting doesn’t necessarily indicate net demand
The process of minting a stablecoin generates tokens at an address controlled by the issuer. These tokens may either stay in the treasury, be allocated to an institutional client, or facilitate transfers across different networks.
As such, a mint does not ensure that an equivalent amount has entered the public market. Similarly, a burn process eliminates tokens from supply and could be part of customer redemptions, treasury operations, or network recalibration.
The simultaneous mint and burn of 11 million tokens on August 31 exemplifies this distinction. Analyzing them separately suggests growth, but together, these transactions did not yield a net increase in that operation.
Ripple has not disclosed specifics about the customer, purpose, or economic relationship of either transaction. The records confirm the transactions took place but do not indicate any new institutional demand.
As previously mentioned by crypto.news, another 10 million RLUSD was minted on XRPL on August 17, with no information provided regarding the recipient or the intended use of that issuance.
RLUSD supply surpassed $2 billion in August
In August, RLUSD’s market capitalization exceeded $2 billion, just under two years after it debuted in December 2024. Ripple verified this achievement on August 25, indicating that nearly $1 billion had been issued on the XRP Ledger.
Additionally, RLUSD approached an almost equal split between XRPL and Ethereum as it exceeded that threshold, with Ethereum having a marginally larger share at that point.
Current data indicate ongoing supply growth, with CoinGecko reporting around 2.37 billion circulating tokens as of August 31. Trackers for the XRP Ledger registered the network’s portion of over 1 billion tokens following several mints in late August.
Ethereum continues to serve as a significant platform for RLUSD. Ripple has also expanded the stablecoin’s reach to Base, Ink, Optimism, Unichain, and the XRPL EVM sidechain. However, public dashboards might not always align in their supply totals across different networks, resulting in discrepancies among data providers.
Ripple’s reserve report lags behind the latest mints
As of August 20, Ripple’s transparency report indicated $1.866 billion in circulating RLUSD and $1.981 billion in reserve funds. This official data snapshot precedes the most recent minting and the $2 billion milestone.
RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a subsidiary of Ripple regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Ripple states that reserves comprise cash and permitted cash equivalents held in segregated accounts.
Deloitte conducts monthly attestations concerning the reported circulation and reserves. However, these reports are historical and do not provide immediate verification of reserve fluctuations following each mint or burn.
The next attestation is expected to clarify whether reserve assets increased alongside the uptick in supply at the end of August.
What’s next for RLUSD
Future treasury activities will determine whether the recent mints transition into circulation or are balanced by further burns. Transfers from treasury accounts to exchanges, custodians, or institutional partners may offer greater insight, although movements in wallets alone might not clarify their intent.
The upcoming reserve report will be crucial, as it should indicate whether Ripple has maintained reserve assets above circulating liabilities as RLUSD surpasses $2 billion.
No confirmed movement in XRP prices can directly be linked to RLUSD transactions. While the growth in RLUSD may enhance dollar liquidity on the XRP Ledger, it does not necessarily create a parallel increase in demand for XRP.