Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg has outlined a vision for Ripple where its real-world impact stems from its global remittance network and its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, rather than the price of its native XRP token. This perspective comes as RLUSD's market capitalization surges toward a $1.5 billion milestone following fresh mints and its integration into Ripple's new corporate treasury platform.
McClurg emphasized that Ripple's global remittances network remains a critical crypto use case, solving real-world problems by making cross-border payments faster and cheaper, especially for remittance-dependent countries. Looking forward, he expressed the strongest bullish sentiment for RLUSD, predicting rapid adoption once fully integrated across Ripple's partner network. He suggested RLUSD could challenge USD Coin (USDC) over time, citing its perceived stronger regulatory oversight in the United States as a key advantage for attracting institutions and governments.
In a notable speculation, McClurg suggested that if the U.S. government opts against launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it might outsource a digital dollar to private companies. He identified Ripple and Circle as the two most likely contenders for such a role, based on their early experience with stablecoins and ongoing government explorations into digital currencies.
Regarding XRP, McClurg acknowledged a recurring question from institutional investors considering an XRP ETF: what gives the token its value? He noted that, unlike Bitcoin, XRP requires more explanation about its function within Ripple's ecosystem, which he deemed a fair and important question for serious investors.
Concurrently, RLUSD is experiencing significant growth. Data from the Ripple Stablecoin Tracker shows that 28,200,000 RLUSD were minted on February 2, 2026, pushing its total market capitalization to approximately $1.39 billion and bringing the $1.5 billion target within reach. This steady issuance is attributed to robust institutional demand, specifically driven by Ripple's newly launched "Ripple Treasury" platform. This platform, unveiled in late January following the acquisition of G Treasury, integrates RLUSD directly into corporate cash management for 3-to-5-second cross-border settlements, replacing multi-day wire transfers.
The minting activity indicates corporate partners are actively using this liquidity for real-time settlement. Furthermore, RLUSD achieved a critical liquidity milestone in January with a spot listing on Binance. The integration unlocked deep liquidity pairs (RLUSD/USDT and XRP/RLUSD), driving 24-hour trading volumes to over $363 million and transforming RLUSD from a settlement-layer asset into a viable trading instrument.
