RLUSD Describes Itself As

Ripple USD (RLUSD) is a stablecoin developed by Ripple, a leading provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions and enterprises. Pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, RLUSD aims to provide a liquid, trustworthy, enterprise-grade stablecoin solution to digital asset markets. Ripple’s focus on regulatory adherence is a cornerstone of RLUSD, and the company leverages its global portfolio of licenses to enable RLUSD to meet applicable regulations and industry best practices.

Project Function

RLUSD is issued natively on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks, allowing it to leverage Ethereum’s robust existing ecosystem, while also benefiting from the speed, low transaction costs, and scalability of the XRP Ledger. RLUSD provides a solution for enterprises seeking a digital dollar equivalent that adheres to the standards of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The stablecoin allows for efficient cross-border transactions, and looks to enhance the liquidity of digital finance ecosystems.

How RLUSD Works:

• Backing and Reserves: Each RLUSD token is fully backed by USD fiat and cash equivalents, including U.S. Treasury Bills and government money market funds, held at U.S.-based financial institutions. 
• Regulation: RLUSD is issued by Standard Custody and Trust Company, LLC, a Ripple subsidiary regulated by the NYDFS.
• Transparency: Ripple commits to providing monthly reserve attestations conducted by independent certified public accountants. These attestations will detail RLUSD’s reserve holdings, tokens minted and burned, and the circulating supply. A transparency webpage will be maintained for ongoing updates.
• Security: RLUSD’s Ethereum smart contracts are audited by multiple independent firms. Ripple employs a Threat and Vulnerability Management program and a bug bounty initiative through HackerOne to maintain its security posture.

About Ripple

Ripple was founded in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb. It is a provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions and enterprises, focusing on streamlining global financial transactions through blockchain technology. Ripple's solutions use the XRP Ledger and its native asset, XRP, to deliver fast, low-cost, and scalable transactions for various developer and financial use cases. Ripple is recognized for its efforts in transforming payments, custody, and stablecoin solutions.

Risks of RLUSD

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in RLUSD. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in RLUSD is subject to the following specific risks:

• Although RLUSD provides monthly and historical attestations, there is still a possibility of the RLUSD token temporarily deviating from its peg in times of significant volatility or disruptions to the custody provider’s financial stability. 

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with RLUSD. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The aforementioned founders and Ripple are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of RLUSD have no recourse to Ripple, or Uphold if RLUSD declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing RLUSD on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on RLUSD and determined that RLUSD is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of RLUSD including ensuring the source code is open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security and monthly attestations.
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of RLUSD.
• Any marketing materials put forward by the RLUSD social team including on, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with RLUSD, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning RLUSD and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with RLUSD, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of RLUSD.

General

Uphold has prepared this Crypto Asset Statement based on publicly available information. Although Uphold has taken steps to obtain information from apparently reliable sources, information contained in this Crypto Asset Statement may be inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date. This overview is a starting point for you to perform your own research prior to investing in a crypto asset.

Uphold users should read the Risks Specific To Holding Digital Assets statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with crypto assets made available through the Uphold platform.  

Canadian residents, please note that Uphold has filed an application for registration in certain Canadian jurisdictions but has not yet obtained registration. Until such time as Uphold obtains registration, Uphold has agreed to abide by the terms of an undertaking available at the following link. Please also review the Uphold Canada – Crypto Risk Statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with the crypto assets made available through Uphold Platform. Please be aware that statutory rights of action for damages or rescission in section 130.1 of the Securities Act (Ontario) and, if applicable, similar statutory rights under securities legislation in the other provinces and territories of Canada do not apply in respect of this Crypto Asset Statement or other disclosures on the Uphold website and Risks Specific To Holding Digital Assets statement. 

Last updated on December 17, 2024.