[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD has begun trading on OKX with more than 280 spot trading pairs.

On April 29 local time, blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that RLUSD was listed in multiple spot markets, including RLUSD/XRP. It also supports use as margin collateral and, in some derivatives markets, use in perpetual futures.

This listing focuses on expanding RLUSD distribution channels. OKX is an exchange that accounts for a meaningful share of overall industry trading activity. With RLUSD directly integrated into the exchange, accessibility has increased for both retail users and institutions, and a structure has been put in place for simultaneous use in spot and derivatives markets.

Ripple launched RLUSD in December 2024. RLUSD operates on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger (XRPL), and its market capitalisation has grown to $1.57 billion. It is still a latecomer compared with a market led by Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC. This OKX listing is expected to serve as an opportunity to broaden RLUSD distribution.

A key point in expanding functionality is that it does not stop at spot listing. OKX users can manage derivatives positions by using RLUSD as an institutional-grade margin asset. In some markets, RLUSD can also be linked to perpetual futures. This allows users to deploy RLUSD more efficiently without moving funds to other platforms.

Deposits and withdrawals, as well as issuance and redemption, are processed directly on the XRP Ledger. This structure is designed to help keep liquidity steady within the platform. Institutional clients can deposit, trade and manage RLUSD through the OKX Prime service.

Jack McDonald (잭 맥도널드), senior vice president of Ripple's stablecoin business, said demand for RLUSD is rising among both institutions and crypto-focused users. He said RLUSD is being used as 'high-quality collateral' in more complex financial structures.

Jason Lau (제이슨 라우), OKX's chief innovation officer, said OKX aims to support high-quality stablecoins in the market and sees RLUSD as one of them. He said RLUSD has proved itself as a 'reliable alternative' to institutions worldwide.

OKX says it has more than 120,000,000 users globally. With this integration, RLUSD is directly connected to OKX's unified order system. This enables market participants to use RLUSD across spot and derivatives within a single system and reduces the need to move assets between accounts.

RLUSD's institutional use cases are also expanding. Ripple has previously said it enabled Ripple Prime clients to trade using RLUSD in Bullish's bitcoin options market. Bullish said the linkage allows Ripple Prime's institutional clients to directly access its regulated bitcoin options market. The market is the second-largest crypto-settled bitcoin options market by open interest.

Ultimately, this OKX listing places more weight on expanding RLUSD's range of uses than on a simple listing. With an expansion of spot trading pairs, inclusion as derivatives margin collateral and links to institutional services taking place at the same time, RLUSD has entered a phase of widening its position in the stablecoin market.