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Ripple has joined Open USD (OUSD), a newly announced consortium-backed stablecoin project supported by more than 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Google, Shopify, Coinbase, and BNY.
Unlike Ripple’s own RLUSD stablecoin, Open USD is governed by Open Standard, an independent company whose partners collectively oversee the project rather than any single issuer.
The announcement comes as XRP (XRP) trades just above the psychologically important $1 level after weeks of selling pressure.
While price action remains subdued, onchain metrics suggest network activity and institutional interest continue to strengthen beneath the surface.
Open USD aims to compete directly with dominant stablecoins such as Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC), but with a significantly different business model.
Instead of allowing a single issuer to retain billions of dollars in interest generated from reserve assets, Open USD distributes reserve earnings among participating companies after covering operating costs. The consortium also plans to offer free minting and redemption without volume limits, making the platform more attractive for businesses processing large payment volumes.
Stablecoins are transforming how value moves, and interoperability is the key to institutional scale.
We're proud to join Open USD as a day-one integration partner, reinforcing Ripple's commitment to open, multichain infrastructure that supports institutional adoption across the… https://t.co/6BymTXdElJ
— Ripple (@Ripple) June 30, 2026
The model could prove particularly attractive following the passage of the GENIUS Act, which limits stablecoin issuers from paying yield directly to tokenholders while leaving room for commercial partners to receive reserve income.
For Ripple, joining Open USD allows the company to remain involved regardless of which stablecoin ecosystem ultimately captures institutional adoption. By integrating the XRP Ledger (XRPL) into the consortium, Ripple gains another potential source of blockchain activity without replacing its own RLUSD initiative.
However, Open USD is designed as a multichain network. Alongside XRPL, blockchains such as Solana, Polygon, and Stellar are also participating, meaning transaction volume will likely be distributed across several ecosystems rather than concentrated on Ripple’s network.
Ripple’s participation reflects its broader strategy of embedding XRPL into institutional financial infrastructure.
In recent days, Ripple also proposed a new XRPL standard that would allow institutions to borrow against tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) while using the blockchain to automatically enforce loan terms. Human credit teams would continue handling underwriting, while smart contracts manage collateral and settlement.
@Ripple just published the full breakdown of the XRPL Lending Protocol credit infrastructure, natively onchain.
Single Asset Vaults. Standardized loan origination. Repayment and default logic enforced at the protocol layer.
Underwriting stays off-chain. Execution moves… pic.twitter.com/YbZmliXLhx
— 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸XRP (@BankXRP) June 29, 2026
If approved by validators, the proposal would expand XRPL’s capabilities in tokenized finance, an area many analysts expect to become one of blockchain’s largest long-term markets.
The Open USD partnership complements that vision by potentially introducing additional payment and settlement activity to XRPL, although transaction fees on the network remain extremely low. Consequently, even meaningful increases in usage may have only a limited direct effect on XRP’s value unless activity grows substantially.
Despite XRP trading near $1.05 after falling to a 19-month low last week, several onchain indicators have improved.
Active addresses on the XRPL have climbed by 72% over the past two weeks, suggesting network usage continues to increase despite weak market sentiment.
Santiment data also showed nearly 5,000 new wallets were created in a single day, marking the strongest network growth in more than three months.
Whale accumulation also accelerated in June. Wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP added about 160 million tokens during the month, while medium-sized holders also increased their balances.
Institutional demand has remained resilient as well. US spot XRP ETFs have now recorded eight consecutive weeks of net inflows, standing in sharp contrast to persistent outflows from both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Meanwhile, derivatives markets appear healthier after leveraged positioning declined to its lowest level since July 2025. Lower open interest reduces the risk of forced liquidations, potentially creating a more stable foundation if buying pressure returns.
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