XRP Open Interest Soars As Ripple Tests Its Stablecoin RLUSD

• XRP open interest peaked at $1 billion on Sunday and has since fallen to $846 million on Wednesday.
• Ripple Labs is testing its RLUSD stablecoin, churning out large volumes of the asset and fueling interest among market participants.
• XRP is holding around support at $0.6000 and is trading positive for the day.

Ripple (XRP) has generated interest among derivatives traders as the payments remittance firm tests its Ripple USD (RUSD) stablecoin. Ripple announced that the asset is awaiting regulatory approval and is aimed at institutions, not individuals. However, as the RLUSD churn increases, there is an increase in open interest on derivatives exchanges.

XRP holders likely see this as a positive development for Ripple, as greater adoption of the company’s infrastructure and payment services could boost the use and adoption of the altcoin.

Ripple stablecoin tests catalyze rise in open interest in XRP

Ripple has ramped up its stablecoin testing efforts and hammered high volumes of RLUSD over the past few weeks. The remittance firm made headlines as it minted 99% of the stablecoin’s total supply (800,000) in a 24-hour period between September 28 and 29.

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has a total supply of 812,034 in two blockchains – Ethereum and XRP Ledger.

Ripple’s progress in the stablecoin project has emerged as a key market driver for XRP.

According to data from Coinalyze, open interest (usually considered a measure of market activity) in XRP jumped to a peak of $1 billion on Sunday. It has since corrected to $846 million on Wednesday.

XRP Futures Open Interest (USD)

While Ripple’s stablecoin tests are ongoing, the payments remittance firm is working with regulators to obtain relevant licenses to drive adoption of the financial services infrastructure. Ripple announced on Tuesday that the firm has received a financial services license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Ripple can now offer services as a licensed firm to institutions in the United Arab Emirates, likely to run the XRP Ledger and the XRP token utility.

XRP is holding steady around the psychologically important $0.6000 at the time of writing on Wednesday.