3rd April 2025 – (New York) Ripple has launched its RLUSD stablecoin on Ripple Payments, aiming to enhance cross-border transactions, but the excitement has been overshadowed by a significant drop in XRP’s value. The cryptocurrency’s realised losses have surged to a two-year high, exceeding $710 million.
XRP experienced a 5% decline on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs affecting all international trading partners. This downturn erased the temporary gains seen after Ripple confirmed the integration of the RLUSD stablecoin into its payment solutions.
Despite Ripple’s announcement regarding RLUSD’s integration into its cross-border payments system, intended to bolster adoption, the market responded negatively. Ripple revealed that select clients, including BKK Forex and iSend, are employing RLUSD to enhance their international treasury operations.
Since its launch in December, RLUSD has grown in prominence, currently boasting a market capitalisation of nearly $250 million and a trading volume of $10 billion, according to Ripple. Jack McDonald, Senior Vice President of Stablecoins at Ripple, stated, “We’re seeing the market cap continue to grow, outpacing our internal projections. RLUSD is quickly being used for various applications, including as collateral in both crypto and traditional finance trading markets.”
Additionally, Ripple announced that RLUSD is now live on the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, expanding its global partnerships.
Initially, XRP saw a brief rise of 2% following the RLUSD launch announcement but has since reversed these gains and is now trading at a 5% loss over the past 24 hours. This rapid decline has resulted in investors recording $710 million in losses, the highest figure since December 2022. This shift indicates that many XRP investors are now selling at substantial losses, contrasting with past months where elevated prices allowed for profit realisations during market downturns.
The decline coincides with Trump’s declaration of a 10% tariff on all US imports and reciprocal tariffs based on half of each country’s respective rates. This decision has resulted in significant losses across major cryptocurrencies, contributing to a drop of over 5% in the overall crypto market capitalisation.
XRP is now under increasing selling pressure, having dropped by 5% on Wednesday and triggering $17.26 million in futures liquidations. Liquidations included $10.67 million from long positions and $6.59 million from short positions.
As XRP grapples with the fallout from Trump’s tariff announcement, the $1.96 support level is crucial to monitor for this remittance-focused token. A breakdown below this point, coupled with the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), could validate a Head-and-Shoulders (H&S) pattern, potentially dragging XRP down towards a support level of $1.35.
Technical indicators reflect a bearish trend, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) falling below neutral levels and the Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) entering oversold territory. Only a daily close above $2.34 would invalidate the current bearish outlook and potentially drive XRP towards $2.78.
