In a recent interview with Bloomberg Crypto, Ripple President Monica Long expressed strong optimism about the imminent approval of a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. Long also provided insights into the expansion of Ripple’s new RLUSD stablecoin, which she believes will see major adoption in the coming months. Ripple’s RLUSD Set For Broader Distribution Currently, RLUSD is listed on Bitso, MoonPay, and CoinMina, with additional listings in progress on platforms like Bullish and MercadoBitcoin. Asked about availability on larger US-based exchanges such as Coinbase, Long stated: “We are continuing to expand distribution and availability of Ripple dollars on other exchanges. So I think you can expect to see more availability, more announcements coming soon.” When pressed for a timeline, she emphasized: “Imminently.” Long highlighted the growing role stablecoins play in both trading and payments, describing them as “the way to on-ramp and off-ramp” in crypto. According to Long: “If we look at the crypto landscape overall, it has certainly been growing in the past couple quarters. We think this year is going to be a big year for crypto overall. And so demand for stablecoins, we think, will grow along with that. Ripple US dollar will have a premium role.” Since launching on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger in December, RLUSD has reached a market capitalization of around $53 million. Ripple has integrated Chainlink services into RLUSD to enhance its utility in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, further supporting Long’s vision for widespread adoption. XRP ETF: “Very Soon” In addition to RLUSD, Long addressed the prospect of an ETF, predicting a relatively short runway for regulatory approval: “I think we will see one very soon. I think that we will see more, you know, various crypto spot ETFs this year coming out of the US. And I think XRP is likely to be next in line after Bitcoin and ETH.” She noted that various asset managers—including Canary Capital, WisdomTree, 21Shares, and others—have already filed for XRP ETFs. Pointing to a more favorable regulatory environment, Long added: “There’s already been a number of different companies like Canary and others who have filed. And so we think especially with the administration change and that the approvals of those filings will accelerate.” In October, Bitwise filed a registration statement (Form S-1) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an XRP ETF. Since then, multiple firms have submitted applications, but the SEC has yet to make a decision. Long revealed that Ripple’s payments business doubled last year, indicating strong institutional and corporate demand for its solutions. She also cited an “especially big” close to 2024 for Ripple’s US business, noting that the company signed more local deals in the last six weeks of that year than in the previous six months. Speculation has mounted that the Trump administration’s crypto-friendly posture could speed up approvals of crypto ETFs. XRP prices have surged over 350% since Trump’s election victory, outperforming many other major cryptocurrencies during the same period. At press time, XRP traded at $2.31.
