Ripple, the enterprise-focused blockchain service closely related to the XRP Ledger (XRP), said on Friday that it begun testing its stablecoin on the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet and XRP Ledger.

"Ripple USD is currently in its beta phase and is being rigorously tested by our enterprise partners," the company said in a blog post. "This phase is crucial for ensuring that the stablecoin meets the highest standards of security, efficiency, and reliability before it becomes widely available, and after receipt of regulatory approval."

The announcement came after Ripple laid out its plans in April to enter the rapidly growing stablecoin market with its own U.S. dollar-pegged token. Stablecoins are a $160 billion market currently and a key piece of infrastructure in the crypto economy used for trading and payments on blockchains. The market is currently dominated by the two largest stablecoins, Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC. Broker Bernstein forecasted that the market could grow to $2.8 trillion by 2028.

Ripple USD (RLUSD) is backed by short term U.S. Treasuries, dollar deposits and cash equivalents. The reserves will be audited by a third-party accounting firm, and Ripple plans to report monthly attestations, the blog post said.

The company said that it will offer both RLUSD and XRP for global payments services to clients. The stablecoin isn't tradeable yet as its hasn't received regulatory approval, Ripple said.

Ripple XRP Ledger Stablecoins

Krisztian Sandor

Krisztian Sandor recently graduated from NYU's business and economic reporter program as a Fulbright fellow and worked with Reuters and Forbes previously. Originally from Budapest, Hungary, he is now based in New York. He holds BTC and ETH.