RLUSD Lands an A2, but XRP’s Big Money Question Is Still in the Wings

Ripple’s $RLUSD received an A2 long-term deposit rating and P-1 short-term rating from Moody’s on October 28, 2026, giving the dollar-pegged stablecoin its highest possible short-term score under the agency’s stablecoin framework. Jack McDonald (@JackMcDonald) wrote, “More good news for $RLUSD this week – @moodysratings 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.”

The assessment covers $RLUSD issued on XRP Ledger and Ethereum, providing institutional risk teams with an external credit benchmark for the asset. The ratings apply directly to $RLUSD rather than to $XRP.

The announcement came alongside Ripple’s final approval to establish a national trust bank under the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Ripple said the bank will manage $RLUSD reserves and provide institutional custody services, while Bank of New York Mellon remains the stablecoin’s primary reserve custodian.

The Moody’s decision strengthens the institutional case for $RLUSD, while leaving the broader question of how its growth could translate into value for $XRP and XRP holders. The stablecoin’s reserve, issuance and custody structure operates independently of $XRP’s market role, placing that value-capture question at the center of Ripple’s ecosystem strategy.