Moody’s A2 and P-1 Ratings Place RLUSD Stablecoin Among Deposit Ratings
Key Facts
Moody’s assigned Ripple’s dollar-backed RLUSD stablecoin a long-term deposit rating of A2 and a short-term rating of P-1 in an announcement issued on October 27, 2026. The assessment covers the token Ripple issues on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks. Bloomingbit’s coverage, citing The Defiant and Moody’s, reported that the ratings apply to the deposit associated with the token and are separate long- and short-term ratings. The A2 rating places the token in the upper-medium grade category and indicates low credit risk under Moody’s definitions. P-1 is the agency’s highest short-term rating.
Moody’s said RLUSD reserves consist mainly of highly liquid short-term U.S. Treasury securities and cash, and that the token targets a reserve coverage ratio of 103%. Ripple says the token is backed by U.S. dollars and cash equivalents, and that reserves are held in segregated accounts. The company also says it publishes monthly reserve reports prepared by an independent accounting firm. According to Ripple, Standard Custody, the token’s issuer, is a limited-purpose trust company licensed and supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The company says regulatory requirements mandate that the token be fully backed by highly liquid short-term reserves.
Redemption terms are an important part of the assessment for institutions. According to Moody’s, institutional clients that meet redemption requirements and complete registration can receive par value within two business days of submitting a request. But the agency said RLUSD holders do not have a direct claim on the reserves, despite their segregation from the issuer’s assets. If the issuer enters bankruptcy proceedings, redemptions could take more than two business days. The framework Moody’s described is therefore tied to redemption capacity and its terms, as well as the nature of the reserves. Ripple says total tokens in circulation stood at $2,382.8 million, while reserve funds amounted to $2,528.0 million on October 22, 2026.
Ripple launched RLUSD in December 2024 and announced at the time that it would be available on global platforms starting December 17. In June 2026, the company said the token’s market capitalization had reached $1.7 billion as it entered the Japanese market after approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency. Ripple then said on October 27 that its market capitalization had reached about $2.5 billion. On the same day, the company and Robinhood announced a partnership to include RLUSD in Robinhood’s digital-asset ecosystem; the token was then available on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp, with a later launch in the app expected. Ripple and BNY also announced an expanded collaboration, saying BNY, the primary reserve custodian, supports custody of XRP and RLUSD on its institutional digital custody platform, while enabling clients to mint and redeem RLUSD through BNY remained subject to final approvals.
Moody’s identified factors that could lead to a downgrade, including deterioration in the quality or coverage of reserve assets, weaker redemption capacity, and a major operational or cyber incident. The agency said stronger legal protections could support an upgrade. In market data recorded by EL7, XRPUSD closed at $1.3313 on October 27, then at $1.3252 on October 28, 2026. These closing prices do not establish that the rating announcement caused a move in XRP’s price. Moody’s shares, listed under the ticker MCO, closed at $474 on October 27.