XRP News Today: Cardano Founder Offers Free Integration of Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has proposed a significant move in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space by offering full support for integrating Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, into the Cardano ecosystem at no cost. This announcement, shared by crypto analyst Merlijn The Trader, has sparked predictions of increased liquidity and growth for Cardano’s DeFi infrastructure.

In a video posted by Merlijn The Trader, Hoskinson directly addressed the XRP community, expressing his desire to integrate RLUSD into Cardano. He stated, “We’d like to find a path to bring RLUSD on Cardano. We will do the integration for free because we like the XRP community.” This unexpected offer comes as a surprise given the historically tense relationship between the XRP and Cardano communities. Hoskinson’s gesture marks a shift from competition to collaboration, promoting interoperability and shared innovation within the blockchain sector. By eliminating financial and technical barriers, the offer facilitates a swift and seamless integration of Ripple’s enterprise-grade stablecoin.

RLUSD, launched by Ripple in December 2024, is fully backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar reserves and designed to meet both institutional compliance requirements and retail usability. It is built for fast settlement and cross-chain functionality, already gaining traction on the XRP Ledger and EVM-compatible blockchains. Integrating RLUSD into Cardano’s native DeFi ecosystem would provide immediate access to reliable, stable liquidity, allowing users to participate in lending, yield farming, and decentralized trading without exiting the Cardano network. It would also create a bridge for XRP community members to explore DeFi opportunities within Cardano.

According to Merlijn The Trader, the potential impact of this integration is significant. He predicts that if RLUSD becomes operational on Cardano, the network will witness an influx of liquidity providers (LPs), a sharp increase in Total Value Locked (TVL), and a significant evolution of its DeFi ecosystem. This integration could be the catalyst Cardano needs to compete with other leading DeFi ecosystems, offering users low-risk yield opportunities and encouraging more cross-chain liquidity plays.

If realized, this integration would represent more than just a technical upgrade; it would signal a major milestone in blockchain cooperation. A free RLUSD integration would forge a direct connection between Ripple and Cardano, two of the most influential Layer 1 protocols in the crypto space. Such synergy could help decentralize liquidity across networks and give rise to new multi-chain DeFi strategies, allowing users to access broader financial tools with lower friction and greater efficiency. It also highlights a growing maturity within the industry, where leaders like Hoskinson recognize the value of building bridges rather than walls.

While the integration remains in its proposal stage, the community response is already gaining momentum. Should Ripple respond positively, technical collaboration could begin sooner than expected, potentially altering the DeFi landscape in 2025 and beyond. For now, both the Cardano and XRP communities, as well as the broader crypto market, are watching closely. The success of this initiative could signal the start of a new era in blockchain innovation: one powered not just by code, but by cooperation.