TL;DR
- Ripple issued $449.3 million in RLUSD on the XRP Ledger over 30 days, but burned $448.9 million in the same period.
- The 99% burn rate reflects high-turnover institutional use: tokens are minted for settlements and redeemed almost immediately.
- RLUSD’s total circulating supply reaches $1.757 billion, distributed nearly equally between XRPL and Ethereum.
Over the past 30 days, Ripple minted $449.3 million in RLUSD tokens directly on the XRP Ledger, its native blockchain. However, the volume of tokens burned during that same period reached $448.9 million, pushing the monthly burn rate to 99%.
The latest trigger was the elimination of an additional $35.7 million in RLUSD from the XRP Ledger, an operation that sealed a dynamic that, far from being anomalous, reveals the stablecoin’s actual operational model on this network.
Ripple: Institutional Transit Corridor
Ripple’s behavior around the XRP Ledger follows a specific pattern: tokens are minted for real-time institutional settlements and burned immediately when the client redeems their position for fiat currency. This turns XRPL into a high-speed transit corridor, where net supply growth is practically zero. The infrastructure is not designed to retain liquidity, but to process instant conversions with minimal friction.
The contrast with Ethereum is stark. Over the same 30-day period, the network issued $403 million in RLUSD, but burned only $177.3 million, allowing it to retain more than $225 million in net inflows. While the XRP Ledger operates as a high-turnover pipeline, Ethereum accumulates liquidity on a sustained basis within the DeFi ecosystem.
The Imbalance Between Chains
Ripple’s (RLUSD) total circulating supply currently stands at exactly $1.757 billion. The distribution across networks is nearly symmetrical: the XRP Ledger accounts for $883 million, equivalent to 50.2% of the total, while Ethereum holds $874 million, representing the remaining 49.8%. The numerical balance, however, conceals two radically different usage models: short-term institutional settlements on XRPL versus extended holdings in DeFi on Ethereum.
The 99% burn rate does not signal weak demand for Ripple’s token. It reflects, instead, the functional nature of a stablecoin that operates simultaneously as an institutional payment instrument and as a reserve asset within the decentralized market, depending on the network over which it circulates.
