{"id":37766,"date":"2026-10-28T09:47:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T09:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/ripples-rlusd-secures-a2-investment-grade-rating-from-moodys\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T09:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T09:48:10","slug":"ripples-rlusd-secures-a2-investment-grade-rating-from-moodys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/ripples-rlusd-secures-a2-investment-grade-rating-from-moodys\/","title":{"rendered":"Ripple\u2019s RLUSD secures A2 investment-grade rating from Moody\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Moody\u2019s has assigned Ripple\u2019s RLUSD stablecoin an A2 long-term and Prime-1 short-term deposit rating, bringing its new credit assessment framework to a dollar-backed token issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_45681af76b2fe3955deda748e69b7adf\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Moody\u2019s assigned RLUSD an A2 long-term rating and its highest short-term grade, P-1.<\/li>\n<li>The rating covers RLUSD issued by Standard Custody on XRP Ledger and Ethereum.<\/li>\n<li>Reports describe 103% reserve coverage, with BNY serving as the primary reserve custodian.<\/li>\n<li>RLUSD\u2019s rating coincides with new banking relationships and approximately $2.5 billion in circulating supply.<\/li>\n<li>S&amp;P has assessed USDC and USDT, but its stablecoin scores differ from Moody\u2019s deposit ratings.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>According to a Moody\u2019s rating <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ratings.moodys.com\/ratings-news\/475989\" target=\"_blank\">notice<\/a> and comments from Ripple executive Jack McDonald on October 28, the assessment covers RLUSD obligations issued by Standard Custody &amp; Trust Company, Ripple\u2019s New York-regulated subsidiary. McDonald described RLUSD as the first stablecoin to receive an investment-grade Moody\u2019s rating, although the agency\u2019s publicly accessible notice does not provide its full analytical rationale.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the announcement arrived during Ripple\u2019s Swell conference week, when the company was announcing new banking and custody partnerships.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A credit rating offers institutions a familiar way to evaluate an issuer\u2019s repayment capacity, but it does not guarantee redemption, prevent changes to the dollar peg or establish that banks have approved RLUSD for use.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Moody\u2019s evaluates RLUSD reserves and redemption risks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Moody\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moodys.com\/web\/en\/us\/solutions\/ratings\/digital-economy.html\" target=\"_blank\">describes<\/a> its new stablecoin methodology as a framework for assigning deposit ratings to fiat-backed tokens, examining reserve asset quality, legal segregation and liquidity. The approach draws on credit analysis used in conventional finance while addressing the structure of stablecoin obligations.<\/p>\n<p>Under the agency\u2019s published scales, A2 falls within the investment-grade long-term category, while Prime-1 is its highest short-term category. An A2 rating is not Moody\u2019s top long-term grade; that distinction belongs to Aaa. The two ratings therefore describe different repayment horizons and must not be presented as interchangeable.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>RLUSD\u2019s reserves reportedly consist principally of cash and short-dated U.S. government securities, with BNY serving as the primary custodian. Reports of Moody\u2019s assessment put reserve coverage at approximately 103% of outstanding tokens. That figure indicates assets exceeding the token liabilities at the reported measurement point, not a permanent buffer against every liquidity or operational risk.<\/p>\n<p>Standard Custody operates under oversight from the New York State Department of Financial Services. The rating does not turn RLUSD into an insured bank deposit, and the available announcement does not establish how much of the reserve portfolio can be liquidated immediately during unusually heavy redemption requests.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>RLUSD rating arrives during Ripple\u2019s banking expansion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In an October 27 announcement, Ripple and BNY expanded their institutional custody collaboration, adding custody support for XRP and RLUSD and exploring tokenized trade finance. As crypto.news reported on the BNY expansion, the bank already serves as RLUSD\u2019s primary reserve custodian, separating that established relationship from the newly announced services.<\/p>\n<p>BNY\u2019s statement placed RLUSD\u2019s market capitalization near $2.5 billion and described its use in payments, trading and tokenized finance. The figure represents tokens outstanding at the time of the disclosure, not the amount held or transferred by institutional customers.<\/p>\n<p>Other banking relationships have been developing separately. Standard Chartered launched institutional RLUSD custody through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch on October 12, while a proposed collateral arrangement with LMAX Group remains subject to additional approvals and testing.<\/p>\n<p>Ripple\u2019s agreement with Cross River Bank concerns integrating RLUSD into the bank\u2019s payment infrastructure for dollar transfers and round-the-clock settlement. The announced agreement does not establish that every Cross River customer can already make stablecoin payments.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Stablecoin ratings remain different across agencies<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Moody\u2019s rating is distinct from the stablecoin stability assessments published by S&amp;P Global Ratings. S&amp;P assesses how reliably a token can maintain its reference value using a numerical scale, and has already assessed both Circle\u2019s USDC and Tether\u2019s USDT.<\/p>\n<p>S&amp;P gave USDC a score of 2, indicating strong stability, in its December 2025 assessment. It rated USDT at 5, or weak, in November 2025, citing concerns including reserve composition and transparency. Neither finding is an A2 or P-1 deposit rating, so the scores cannot be compared directly with RLUSD\u2019s new grades.<\/p>\n<p>No public announcement examined for this report establishes that Circle or Tether has applied for a rating under Moody\u2019s new methodology. A future application would be a decision for the issuer and rating agency, not an automatic consequence of RLUSD\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Institutional use still depends on eligibility and operations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In announcing the rating, McDonald said the agency examined reserve credit quality, redemption arrangements, custody relationships, regulatory oversight and operating controls. His statement describes the assessment\u2019s scope but is not a substitute for the underlying full rating opinion.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More good news for <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/search?q=%24RLUSD&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">$RLUSD<\/a> this week \u2013 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/moodysratings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@moodysratings<\/a> has assigned RLUSD an A2 long-term rating and P-1 short-term rating, the highest possible short-term rating under its new stablecoin framework.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>TL;DR: RLUSD is the first stablecoin to have ever received an investment-grade\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jack McDonald (@_JackMcDonald_) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/_JackMcDonald_\/status\/2115249719723074014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>For institutional users, onboarding and asset eligibility remain separate decisions. Standard Chartered\u2019s existing custody service provides one confirmed example of bank support, while its planned collateral service illustrates that holding an asset and accepting it for credit or margin purposes involve different operational approvals.<\/p>\n<p>Ripple has not disclosed any new RLUSD transaction volume, bank mandate or redemption activity attributable specifically to the Moody\u2019s decision. The accessible rating materials likewise do not identify the next review date or conditions that could lead Moody\u2019s to change its assessment.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moody\u2019s has assigned Ripple\u2019s RLUSD stablecoin an A2 long-term and Prime-1 short-term deposit rating, bringing its new credit assessment framework to a dollar-backed token issued on the XRP Ledger and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37767,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37766\/revisions\/37767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}