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Ripple has announced the rollout of its USD-backed stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), to institutional players in Africa through partnerships with Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card. The move marks a significant step in expanding access to compliant digital assets across the continent’s fast-growing financial ecosystem.
Launched in late 2024, RLUSD has already achieved a market capitalisation exceeding US$700 million, underscoring strong global demand for a compliance-first stablecoin. Designed with a focus on trust, transparency, and regulatory oversight, RLUSD is supported by Ripple’s dual expertise in crypto and traditional finance. The token is issued by a New York limited purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
According to Jack McDonald, Ripple’s Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, RLUSD is already proving integral in enterprise use cases globally.
“RLUSD has quickly gained traction in payments, tokenisation, and collateral markets across both crypto and traditional finance. We are excited to begin distribution in Africa through trusted local partners,” McDonald said.
Ripple has also integrated RLUSD into Ripple Payments, expanding stablecoin options for its cross-border payments solution.
Chipper Cash CEO and Co-Founder, Ham Serunjogi, welcomed the move, saying:
“After deepening our partnership with Ripple earlier this year to deliver faster, cheaper cross-border payments into Africa, making RLUSD available to our clients was a natural next step. RLUSD is uniquely positioned to drive institutional adoption of blockchain across Africa and beyond.”
With support from African fintech leaders, RLUSD will enable a wide range of enterprise financial applications,including:
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Instant settlement of cross-border transactions
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Liquidity for remittance and treasury operations
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Integration with decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols
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Bridging fiat and crypto markets
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Collateral for trading tokenised assets such as commodities, securities, and treasuries
Beyond financial services, RLUSD is also being piloted for climate resilience projects. In Kenya, Mercy Corps Ventures is testing RLUSD-powered insurance solutions, including drought insurance for farmers triggered by satellite data, and parametric rainfall coverage for extreme weather events.
Ripple confirmed it is working with partners worldwide to broaden RLUSD’s availability, positioning the stablecoin as a trusted instrument for digital finance and humanitarian innovation.
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