The first stablecoin to receive an investment-grade rating from Moody’s — and it’s not USDT or USDC.
Fact: On Oct. 27, Moody’s Ratings assigned RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, a long-term rating of A2 and a short-term rating of P-1 — its highest short-term rating. Ripple stablecoin SVP Jack McDonald called it Moody’s first investment-grade rating for a stablecoin. The rating covers only RLUSD issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. The basis: reserves consisting mostly of short-term U.S. government assets and cash, with most held at BNY, and a target reserve ratio of 103% of coins in circulation. (Unchained, CryptoNews, Finbold, Oct. 28.)
My take: this is a credibility milestone, but it should be read for what it is. The rating assesses reserves; it doesn’t guarantee the price or the safety of funds. The issuer requested the rating, redemption at par within two business days applies only to onboarded institutional holders, and holders don’t yet have a direct claim on the reserves — two gaps that Moody’s itself says could prevent an upgrade. And the scale is still small: RLUSD is around $2.6 billion, far below USDT at around $181.8 billion.
What I’m watching: whether the GENIUS Act, which takes effect in 2027, actually leads to a higher rating; whether other stablecoin issuers seek ratings; and whether RLUSD supply grows beyond $2.6 billion. Meanwhile, XRP is trading around $1.297.
Do you think a rating like this is enough to get institutions to switch to RLUSD, or will they stick with the much more liquid USDT/USDC?
This is my analysis, not financial advice — always DYOR.
#Stablecoin #Rating $RLUSD