Ripple announced on December 15, 2025, that its U.S. dollar–backed stablecoin, RLUSD, is expanding to multiple Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) networks through a new pilot program.
The initiative leverages Wormhole’s Native Token Transfer (NTT) standard, marking a significant step in Ripple’s broader multichain strategy.
The initial test phase includes deployments across Optimism, Coinbase’s Base, Kraken’s Ink, and Uniswap’s Unichain. This move positions RLUSD directly within some of the most active scaling environments in Ethereum’s ecosystem.
🚨 JUST IN: Ripple’s $RLUSD is expanding to Layer 2s via Wormhole’s NTT standard. pic.twitter.com/mt7zl6sfJA
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) December 15, 2025
Native Transfers Without Wrapped Assets
At the core of the expansion is Wormhole’s NTT standard, which allows RLUSD to move natively between blockchains. Unlike traditional bridging solutions, NTT avoids the use of wrapped or synthetic tokens, helping preserve liquidity consistency and issuer-level control.
Ripple emphasized that this architecture supports stronger compliance guarantees while reducing fragmentation across chains. By maintaining native issuance, RLUSD can circulate across networks without introducing additional trust assumptions tied to third-party wrappers.
Regulatory Approval Remains Key
While the pilot is already underway, Ripple noted that a full public rollout is expected in 2026, pending final approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Regulatory oversight remains central to the project’s timeline, reflecting Ripple’s focus on operating within established compliance frameworks.
The company framed the expansion as part of a broader effort to align on-chain efficiency with regulatory clarity, rather than treating them as competing priorities.
DeFi Integration and XRP Utility
Ripple said the multichain rollout is designed to embed RLUSD more deeply into the decentralized finance ecosystem. With the stablecoin now accessible on multiple L2 networks, users gain access to faster settlement times and lower transaction costs across supported platforms.
The expansion also supports wrapped XRP (wXRP), enabling XRP holders to use the asset alongside RLUSD for swaps, lending, and payments across Ethereum-based DeFi applications. This pairing is intended to improve capital efficiency and interoperability for XRP-linked activity outside the XRP Ledger.
Broader Strategic Context
Ripple highlighted that the initiative builds on recent regulatory momentum, including approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a federal trust bank charter. The company described the RLUSD expansion as a practical example of how regulated digital assets can operate across public blockchain infrastructure without compromising compliance standards.
With RLUSD now moving toward a multichain footprint, Ripple is positioning the stablecoin as a regulated liquidity layer capable of operating across both centralized and decentralized financial systems.
