Ripple executed a significant end-of-quarter settlement on March 31, 2026, burning approximately 128 million RLUSD tokens from circulation in a series of five transactions. The largest single burn amounted to 79 million RLUSD, as confirmed by Etherscan data. This action, equivalent to a $128 million reduction in supply, is a standard operational procedure for stablecoin redemptions, where large holders or institutions return tokens to the issuer in exchange for U.S. dollars from reserve accounts.
Consequently, RLUSD's market capitalization fell below $1.4 billion, placing it ninth among dollar-backed stablecoins. Analysts suggest the timing points to institutional investors closing positions for quarter-end reporting, temporarily reducing liquidity on the Ethereum and XRP Ledger networks. The event is viewed as a sign of the stablecoin's maturity, demonstrating Ripple's ability to handle large-scale redemptions seamlessly.
Simultaneously, Bitget Wallet announced a deep integration with the XRP Ledger, positioning it as a core payment rail within its ecosystem. The update goes beyond simple chain support, focusing on XRP and RLUSD payments, transfers, and cross-chain swaps. This integration is designed to reduce friction for users moving funds and aligns with a broader industry trend of wallets simplifying blockchain complexity for everyday payments.
The timing is significant as payment activity now accounts for about 53% of XRP Ledger network activity, with RLUSD becoming the top asset on the network by transaction volume. Bitget Wallet's roadmap includes future features like crypto cards, QR payments, and bank transfers, which could further cement the XRP Ledger's role in real-world, cross-border payment tools.
