South Korean crypto exchange Upbit launched trading for Ripple USD (RLUSD) on July 28, opening three new markets against the Korean won, Bitcoin, and Tether. Trading began at 2:00 p.m. Korea Standard Time after the exchange confirmed sufficient liquidity, with deposits and withdrawals enabled within two hours of the announcement.
Upbit limited all RLUSD transfers to the XRP Ledger version of the stablecoin, excluding tokens on Ethereum and other networks. The exchange specified the official issuer address rMxCKbEDwqr76QuheSUMdEGf4B9xJ8m5De as the only valid deposit destination, warning that unsupported‑network transfers may face prolonged return processes. Customers must include a destination tag for incoming RLUSD to ensure accurate crediting, a common practice on the XRP Ledger where one wallet serves many users.
During the opening period, Upbit imposed temporary controls: buy orders were restricted for roughly five minutes, sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous day’s close were similarly blocked, and only limit orders were accepted for the first two hours. Market orders and conditional types were disabled during this window. The exchange quoted RLUSD at 1,468.76 won, 0.00001583 BTC, and 0.9995 USDT ahead of the launch, though these were indicative only. Broader market data showed RLUSD trading near its $1 peg with an estimated circulating supply of about 1.59 billion tokens.
The listing expands Ripple’s regulated stablecoin into one of Asia’s most active crypto markets. RLUSD was already available on Coinone, giving Ripple an earlier domestic channel. Upbit’s larger user base and historic XRP trading volume may drive further adoption. Ripple reported $1.5086 billion in circulating RLUSD and $1.6191 billion in reserves on July 16—backed by cash and highly liquid short‑term assets held by Standard Custody & Trust Company, a Ripple subsidiary approved by the New York Department of Financial Services.
Ripple recently launched Ripple Mint to let institutions mint, redeem, and manage RLUSD, and extended the stablecoin to additional blockchains including Base, Optimism, and the XRPL EVM Sidechain. The Upbit listing does not yet support those networks, meaning Ethereum‑based RLUSD holders must first bridge or exchange for the XRP Ledger version to deposit.
