Mastercard’s recognition of XRP and its alignment with WebBank as issuer and Gemini for custody add credibility to Ripple’s claims of enterprise-grade utility.
Mastercard, one of the world’s leading credit card companies, has partnered with Ripple and Gemini to pilot a new method of settling credit card transactions using the RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, an open-source blockchain built to streamline and enhance global payment systems.
Through this collaboration, Gemini’s credit card, issued by WebBank, will be linked to a blockchain-based settlement network that finalizes transactions in RLUSD, replacing the traditional, behind-the-scenes bank transfer process.
As discussed earlier, the pilot is expected to launch in the coming months, pending regulatory approval, and represents one of the first instances of a fully regulated U.S. bank operating directly on a public blockchain.
The XRP Ledger will serve as the public infrastructure supporting these settlements. RLUSD, introduced last December across both Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, has already grown to a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion and is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Following the announcement, XRP Investing outlined 10 reasons why this development could benefit XRP, emphasizing its potential long-term impact.
He explained that it enhances XRPL adoption by driving real-world financial integrations, builds credibility through partnerships with established institutions such as Mastercard, and increases network activity by boosting transaction volume and reinforcing XRP’s overall utility.
XRP investing explained that this growth, “Bridges traditional finance with decentralized ledgers, expanding XRP’s reach. Builds on prior successes like the XRP edition Gemini Credit Card. Improves market sentiment and investor confidence in Ripple’s roadmap. Drives broader ecosystem expansion via tools like Ripple Payments. Unlocks potential for future institutional use cases on XRPL.”
The move leverages RLUSD’s growth, now exceeding $1 billion in circulation, to further strengthen demand for XRP. As reported by CNF, RLUSD closed Q3 with a market cap of $88.8 million on the XRPL; this is a 34.7% quarter-over-quarter increase.
Total new addresses on XRPL surged by 46.3% to 447,200. This brings the total number of addresses on the XRPL to 6.9 million, up 6.1% from the previous quarter.
A report from Crypto News Flash highlighted Ripple Labs’ recent acquisition of Palisade. Announced on November 3, the deal will see Ripple integrate Palisade’s wallet-as-a-service technology into both its custody and payments divisions, further strengthening its infrastructure for enterprise clients.
This builds on Ripple’s ongoing acquisition spree aimed at strengthening its institutional and payments infrastructure. At the end of October, Ripple completed the $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, a non-bank prime brokerage that has since been rebranded as Ripple Prime.
In 2023, the company acquired Swiss custody technology firm Metaco for approximately $250 million, enhancing its digital asset custody capabilities.
In August, Ripple expanded further into the stablecoin space by purchasing the payments platform Rail for around $200 million, integrating its stablecoin infrastructure directly into Ripple’s broader ecosystem. The company also announced plans to acquire GTreasury for $1 billion.
Currently, XRP is trading at about $2.28, up roughly 0.7% in the past 24 hours, but still down around 7.6% over the past week. Market analyst Javon Marks suggested that the next potential price targets for XRP could range between $5.76 and $9.73.
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