Ripple has conducted its largest single burn of its RLUSD stablecoin, destroying 10 million tokens on the XRP Ledger. This significant event, occurring around March 10-11, 2026, highlights the company's active supply management strategy, which stands in contrast to the practices of larger stablecoin issuers like Tether.
The 10 million RLUSD burn followed a period of aggressive minting, where Ripple created approximately 76 million new tokens in under two weeks starting March 3, 2026. This included a single mint of 69 million RLUSD on March 3, followed by additional mints of 6 million and 1 million on March 9. The net supply direction remains expansionary, suggesting growing institutional or payment corridor demand.
Ripple's model is described as "liquidity-on-demand," where circulating supply is kept tightly aligned with actual market demand. The company actively burns tokens before minting fresh batches, rather than allowing large pools of idle tokens to accumulate. This differs from Tether's USDT, which rarely executes burns, and Circle's USDC, which has a different mint-and-burn cadence.
Further data from blockchain tracker @RL_Tracker indicates continued supply management activity. On March 23, 2026, Ripple executed a single-day burn of 30 million RLUSD. Over the past week, the RLUSD Treasury has burned a total of 45 million tokens while minting only 10 million, resulting in a net weekly supply contraction of 35 million tokens.
RLUSD currently holds a market capitalization of approximately $1.507 billion, ranking 8th among dollar-backed stablecoins globally, with a daily trading volume near $137.8 million. The sustained minting alongside periodic burns suggests the stablecoin is being actively used in payments, trading, or settlement, particularly within Ripple's cross-border payments infrastructure and On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) corridors.
The activity occurs against a backdrop of regulatory developments. Ripple President Monica Long recently emphasized that "compliance is how we scale," noting the company holds over 75 licenses worldwide, including a newly obtained Australian Financial Services License (AFSL). Furthermore, a stablecoin bill gaining momentum in the U.S. Congress could provide a clearer regulatory framework for RLUSD and its competitors.
