Newsletter

• Moody's has assigned a A2 long-term deposit rating and a P-1 short-term deposit rating to Ripple USD. Ripple USD is a stablecoin issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, which are under Ripple.
• The rating agency stated that its reserves are mainly held in short-term U.S. government assets and cash, with the goal of achieving 103% coverage of the tokens in circulation.
• One day before the release of this rating, Ripple just received final approval from the US Federal Reserve (OCC) for its national trust bank. At the same time, RLUSD also gained support from several institutions, including Standard Chartered Bank and MasterCard.

Moody's rating agency stated on Tuesday that it has assigned a A2 long-term deposit rating and a P-1 short-term deposit rating to Ripple USD ( RLUSD ). RLUSD is a stablecoin issued by Ripple's subsidiaries Standard Custody & Trust Company, which is pegged to the US dollar.

A2 is the sixth-highest long-term rating in Moody's rating system, while P-1 is its highest short-term rating. The institution stated that these ratings reflect the quality of the RLUSD reserves. The relevant reserves are mainly held in U.S. Treasury bills, other short-term U.S. government assets, and cash, with the majority of which are kept by the custodian institution, Bank of New York Mellon (BNY). Eligible institutional holders can redeem RLUSD at face value within two working days.

However, Moody's also pointed out gaps in holder protection. The agency stated that Standard Custody is not a bankruptcy-remote entity, and the holders of RLUSD currently do not have direct ownership over the reserves. Nevertheless, Moody's indicated that the US stablecoin legislation GENIUS Act, which is expected to come into effect in 2027, will exclude legally required reserves from the issuer's bankruptcy assets. Moody's also noted that these ratings were provided at the request of the issuer.

One day before the release of this rating, Ripple just received final approval from the US Federal Reserve for Ripple National Trust Bank. This bank will be responsible for managing the reserves of RLUSD and will act as the collateral trustee for these reserves. RLUSD will continue to be issued under the supervision of Standard Custody by the New York State Department of Financial Services, which means that this stablecoin will be regulated at both the state and federal levels.

Institutional advancement of RLUSD

Ripple has always positioned this token for institutional clients, rather than retail traders. Earlier this month, Standard Chartered Bank provided RLUSD custody services for institutional clients through its Dubai branch and stated that it is collaborating with Ripple and LMAX Group to develop a "mortgage mirror" ( collateral mirroring ) arrangement, allowing clients to use the stablecoin as trading collateral without having to move it out of their bank accounts.

In November 2025, Ripple collaborated with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini to explore the use of RLUSD for settling fiat transactions on XRP Ledger. The relevant arrangements still require regulatory approval. According to data from DefiLlama, at that time, the market value of RLUSD had just surpassed $1 billion, making it the 11th largest stablecoin.