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Leading XRPL decentralized exchange First Ledger has claimed that major financial institutions such as Mastercard and WebBank will use $XRP.
First Ledger’s assertion comes weeks after Ripple announced its partnership with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini to pilot $RLUSD stablecoin settlement on the $XRP Ledger (XRPL). The initiative aims to test how regulated stablecoins like $RLUSD can settle traditional card payments on XRPL.
How Mastercard, Gemini, Ripple, and WebBank Will Use $XRP
While Ripple’s announcement focused on the use of $RLUSD for settlement, First Ledger believes that all parties involved, including Ripple, Mastercard, Gemini, and WebBank, will use $XRP.
This perspective stems from the fundamental design of the $XRP Ledger. As the native asset, $XRP underpins value movement across the network, with all transaction fees paid in the token.
Consequently, any activity on XRPL, including $RLUSD settlements, requires $XRP to cover network fees and maintain ledger operations. Thus, although the pilot highlights $RLUSD as the settlement asset, Mastercard, Gemini, Ripple, and WebBank will inherently interact with, and effectively “use,” $XRP simply by executing transactions on the blockchain.
Previous Engagement with $XRP
Notably, Ripple has always leveraged $XRP in its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution, rebranded as Ripple Payments, and has long relied on $XRP as a bridge asset for cross-border settlements.
Through this system, financial institutions have processed billions of dollars, with Tranglo alone reporting over $1 billion in transactions facilitated by $XRP in 2023.
Additionally, Gemini, WebBank, Mastercard, and Ripple collaborated on another initiative earlier in August, which introduced the Gemini $XRP Credit Card. The card, issued by WebBank and powered by Mastercard’s global payment network, enables users to make purchases and earn cashback rewards directly in $XRP.
These entities are now partnering on another venture — testing $RLUSD settlement on $XRP Ledger — an initiative First Ledger believes will see $XRP shine once again.