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Rising $XRP prices in August coincided with a shift among AI-run wallets on the $XRP Ledger, which increasingly used Ripple’s $RLUSD stablecoin for payments.
According to data from the XRPL AI Hub, AI scripts processed more than 554,000 transactions over a week while spending only 209 $XRP, versus 602 $RLUSD. At $XRP’s price of around $1.40 at the time, that comes close to $293 in $XRP compared to $602 in $RLUSD. $RLUSD usage was about 105% higher than $XRP in dollar terms, indicating preference rather than cost advantage. This suggests that for AI-driven micropayments, price stability matters more than volatility.
Is $XRP Becoming a Speculative Asset While $RLUSD Handles Payments?
It’s still too soon to say that for sure. $XRP remains the main asset on the $XRP Ledger and does things $RLUSD can’t just take over, like paying transaction fees and meeting certain reserve requirements on the network.
Yet, the AI wallet data hints at an interesting possibility where the ecosystem might be shifting toward different assets doing different roles, rather than one token doing it all, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for $XRP.
Traditional finance already splits assets by function, such as stocks for growth, bonds for income, or dollars for spending. Eventually, crypto could end up working the same way.
In that scenario, $XRP acts as the core digital asset and liquidity tool, while $RLUSD becomes the go-to for predictable payments and a preferred unit of account.
Does $RLUSD Growth Strengthen $XRP or Compete With It?
$RLUSD hit a $2 billion market cap in August, with nearly $1 billion of that issued on the $XRP Ledger. According to Ripple, there was $1.866 billion in $RLUSD in circulation as of August 20.
Also, recent treasury data shows continued minting and burning on both the XRPL and Ethereum, with 11 million $RLUSD minted at the $RLUSD Treasury in just two hours on August 31.
However, minting alone doesn’t necessarily mean there’s new demand from actual users.
Nonetheless, $RLUSD’s growth may provide a bullish case for $XRP. For instance, more $RLUSD usage could mean more activity on the XRPL, deeper liquidity, more institutional interest in the network, and more reasons for developers and financial firms to get involved.
Ripple is also expanding $RLUSD beyond its original networks. The official docs now show it’s available on XRPL, Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Unichain, Ink, and the XRPL EVM sidechain.
If $RLUSD brings more users, liquidity, and apps into the $XRP ecosystem, $XRP may benefit indirectly from a busier network.
Then again, in some cases, if a user previously needed $XRP to move money around the ecosystem but can now do most dollar payments with $RLUSD, some of the demand for transactions might move away from $XRP.
This wouldn’t imply or mean $XRP isn’t needed anymore. Rather, the connection between growth and direct demand for the native token becomes less straightforward.
Related: Ripple Unites Crypto and Equity Derivatives: Why India’s Institutions Should Care