The stage is set by Ripple’s strategic alliances and support from Binance for RLUSD’s bid for top-three stablecoin status.
Listing of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has been completed by Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
Opening of spot trading pairs—including RLUSD/USDT, RLUSD/U, and XRP/RLUSD—was announced by the exchange on Jan. 21, with a scheduled start for Jan. 22 at 8 AM UTC.
A zero-fee promotion for the RLUSD/USDT and RLUSD/U pairs will be initiated by Binance until further notice.
While the announcement reads like a straightforward listing to a casual trader, it was noted by industry experts that the move could fundamentally alter the market hierarchy and cement RLUSD’s rapid growth over the past year.
It is not argued that value is magically created by Binance, but rather that the way value is routed through the market can be changed by the exchange; if sustained net issuance is translated from that routing, a jump into the top three stablecoins could plausibly be made by RLUSD in a market that is rapidly expanding.
Designing a Liquidity Event
A push for dominance rather than mere participation is suggested by the specific mechanics of the Binance listing.
By the waiving of fees, adoption is being subsidized by Binance rather than trading pairs merely being added; the redirection of where trades clear through zero-fee stablecoin pairs has a history of changing market share on centralized exchanges.
A precedent for disrupting these figures is offered by Kaiko’s analysis of stablecoin dynamics on Binance; following the re-listing of USDC by the exchange in March 2023, a surge in the token’s market share on centralized exchanges from roughly 60% to above 90% was reportedly seen.
A conclusion that USDC had instantly become the superior asset was not necessarily drawn from this shift; rather, it was understood that Binance had made it the cheapest and most convenient rail, with the market simply following those incentives.
The dominance of exchange volume and the reshaping of market structure through zero-fee regimes have also been documented by Kaiko.
Both a promise and a warning for Ripple’s stablecoin are presented by this situation; while deep liquidity can be created quickly by incentives, activity that evaporates when the subsidy ends can also be inflated by them.
In order for a move toward the top three to be achieved by RLUSD, two distinct “flywheels” must be spun in sequence.
The first is routing adoption, where market makers and high-frequency desks are encouraged by zero fees to quote tighter spreads and push more flows through RLUSD pairs.
Deepening of the order book, reduction of slippage, and the ensuring of more reliable execution are achieved through this process, which improves the experience for all participants; in stablecoin markets, where product differentiation is often thin, the asset that trades most efficiently is frequently preferred.
The second flywheel is balance-sheet adoption, where market capitalization is grown only when RLUSD is actually held, whether as exchange collateral, in DeFi lending markets, or in treasury allocations.
The environment for this is created by Binance through the expansion of RLUSD utility; the listing announcement confirmed that portfolio margin eligibility will be added, increasing the token’s utility in leveraged trading strategies.
The Numbers Behind the Rise
Inclusion in Binance Earn is planned, which would provide yield-bearing incentives for users to hold the asset rather than simply trade it.
A substantial numerical gap that must be closed by RLUSD to reach the top three is presented by this situation, despite the strategic setup.
A circulating supply of approximately $1.4 billion for RLUSD is shown by data from; while this market capitalization places it among the ten largest stablecoins, a position significantly behind market leaders Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) is still maintained.
Approximately $5.1 billion in new circulation would need to be generated by RLUSD to breach the “top 3 stablecoin” tier and displace Ethena’s USDe, whose supply currently sits around $6.47 billion.
Approximately $424 million in net new RLUSD issuance would need to be achieved every month over a one-year duration to reach that specific benchmark.
Large growth by a factor of four to seven from its current foundation within a relatively narrow timeframe would be required for these substantial figures to be reached by RLUSD.
This ascent may be assisted by macro tailwinds.
A tenfold growth of the stablecoin market by the end of the decade, currently valued at approximately $300 billion, has been publicly argued by the US Treasury; such an expansion would imply that a valuation of $3 trillion could be reached by the market by 2030.
Greater optimism is expressed by US banking giant JPMorgan, as a projection that stablecoins could reach $2 trillion within two years under a bullish adoption scenario is maintained by the firm.
Institutions Over Hype
If those trajectories materialize, reaching the top three for RLUSD will not only be about stealing market share from incumbents but also about riding a rising tide.
While a liquidity spark is provided by the Binance listing, Ripple’s best case for the top three relies on institutional plumbing.
A stack that resembles that of a payments and capital markets infrastructure provider more than a typical crypto issuer has been assembled by Ripple over the past two years.
The groundwork for any potential expansion is provided by a regulatory stance that has resulted in RLUSD being issued under a New York DFS Limited Purpose Trust Company Charter; concurrently, conditional approval for an OCC charter has been received by Ripple.
A benchmark for transparency and compliance that few other issuers can claim is set by this dual layer of state and federal oversight.
For corporate treasurers and bank compliance officers, this regulatory perimeter is often considered more significant than brand recognition.
The position of Ripple at the center of the global payment network—serving as a platform that settles, secures, and moves digital money—is perhaps the most direct catalyst for sticky institutional adoption.
A $4 billion acquisition spree was executed by Ripple last year, encompassing the purchase of prime broker Hidden Road (now Ripple Prime), custody firm Palisade, treasury-management platform GTreasury, and stablecoin payments provider Rail.
A vertically integrated enterprise spanning trading, custody, payments, and liquidity management is founded upon these firms.
RLUSD’s growth runway is essentially expanded beyond crypto exchange wallets by this move, as the asset is transitioned into multi-asset margin and financing workflows where stablecoin balances can scale rapidly.
A stress test
A persistent risk exists that although trading volume can be manufactured, genuine adoption cannot.
A recent cooling of Binance’s own spot market has been observed, with reports from CoinDesk Data indicating that spot volume fell to $367 billion in December 2025—the lowest level recorded since September 2024.
Even at these diminished magnitudes, Binance is maintained at a scale large enough that the routing of liquidity can be reshaped by a fee subsidy.
Consequently, the ultimate danger in this move is that RLUSD could be utilized as a “cheap rail” but not as a “held asset.”
If trading volume explodes while circulating supply barely grows, the market’s answer will be provided: durable adoption cannot necessarily be created by Binance, even if liquidity is.
For RLUSD to credibly challenge for a top-three position, the narrative must be transitioned from being simply “listed and traded” to being actively “used and held.”
