Ripple says it has begun leveraging the Chainlink standard, a move designed to provide “high-quality pricing data” around its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin.
“By adopting the Chainlink standard for verifiable data on the Ethereum blockchain, Ripple is enhancing the utility of RLUSD across the onchain economy,” the company said in a news release Tuesday (Jan. 7).
According to the release, Chainlink’s Price Feeds have gone live, offering RLUSD pricing data on Ethereum mainnet and allowing developers to integrate support for RLUSD into their DeFi applications for use cases like trading and lending.
“Stablecoins present a significant opportunity to redefine the way businesses and consumers engage in financial transactions by enabling low cost, instant settlement of local and cross-border payment transactions,” the release said.
“However, to support RLUSD as an asset, many DeFi applications first require a high-quality, reliable source of price data to manage risks.”
The Chainlink standard, the release added, offers a way to overcome these obstacles and offer the data needed to boost RLUSD’s adoption within DeFi.
The announcement comes on the heels of what was — as PYMNTS wrote recently — a very good year for stablecoins, as these fiat-currency-pegged-tokens gained traction as financial service companies began exploring blockchain. It also didn’t hurt that the U.S. elected a pro-crypto president in Donald Trump.
“Stablecoins have transitioned from speculative tools to potentially foundational elements of global finance,” PYMNTS wrote. “While challenges remain, particularly around the need for clear regulatory frameworks, the potential for stablecoins to drive greater efficiency, inclusivity and transparency in financial services is considerable.”
The changing landscape has caused Ripple to rethink its shift away from the U.S, as PYMNTS reported Monday (Jan. 6).
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had said in 2023 that the company would do most of its hiring in countries with pro-crypto attitudes. Now, with Trump set to take office, he’s focusing once more on American soil.
“2025 is here and the Trump bull market is real,” Garlinghouse wrote in a post on social platform X. “For Ripple, this is even more personal after [Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary] Gensler’s SEC effectively froze our business opportunities here at home for years. The optimism is obvious and very deserved.”
“We signed more US deals in the last six weeks of 2024 (since the election) than the previous six MONTHS,” he added in the post. “…Say what you want, but the ‘Trump effect’ is already making crypto great again — through his campaign and in the administration’s Day 1 priorities.”