Schwab Research Head Says XRPL Is Becoming a Stablecoin Network

• Charles Schwab’s Head of Crypto Research, Jim Ferraioli, says the XRP Ledger is shifting from a payments chain toward a stablecoin transaction network.
• He described Ethereum as the leading chain for tokenized real-world assets and Tron as a dedicated stablecoin play.
• RLUSD’s supply on the XRP Ledger has grown to roughly $1.53 billion, per RWA.xyz data.

Charles Schwab’s Head of Crypto Research, Jim Ferraioli, says the XRP Ledger is evolving away from its original identity as a cross-border payments network and toward something closer to dedicated stablecoin infrastructure, a shift he attributes to how blockchain networks are increasingly specializing rather than competing head-on.

Ferraioli made the comments on the Thinking Crypto podcast with host Tony Edward, laying out a framework where major chains are settling into distinct roles as the industry matures. “I think everyone’s gonna find their niche,” he said, pointing to Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and XRPL as examples already following that pattern.

How Ferraioli Sorts the Major Chains

In his framing, Ethereum remains the dominant general-purpose smart contract platform, particularly for tokenized real-world assets, a position he’s argued elsewhere rests on Ethereum’s fee base and existing institutional tooling. 

Solana, by contrast, aligns more with high-frequency trading given its transaction throughput. Tron he called a “pure play” stablecoin network outright. XRPL in his view is moving in the same direction as Tron, shifting from its original payments-corridor use case toward becoming primarily a settlement layer for stablecoin activity.

The data lines up with that read. RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, has grown its footprint on the XRP Ledger substantially over the past year, with the network now holding the majority of RLUSD’s total circulating supply after Ethereum held that position through most of 2025. 

RWA.xyz data put RLUSD’s market capitalization near $1.53 billion as of August 10, with the XRP Ledger accounting for the larger share of that total. Cumulative RLUSD trading volume on XRPL has passed $2.5 billion since the stablecoin’s December 2024 launch.

A Separate Point About the Broader Downturn

Ferraioli also addressed the current market downturn directly, framing it as a normal and ultimately useful part of the cycle rather than a sign of deeper trouble. “Recessions are painful, but they’re necessary,” he said, arguing that downturns clear out excess leverage and redirect capital toward areas of the market with stronger long-term growth prospects, at the expense of areas that aren’t growing.

That view is consistent with positions Ferraioli has taken in prior interviews, where he’s applied traditional finance valuation frameworks, including fee-to-market-cap comparisons, to argue that current price weakness doesn’t necessarily reflect a breakdown in the underlying investment case for major chains. His read on XRPL’s shift fits into that same lens: a network finding a more specific, defensible role within the broader ecosystem, separate from whatever XRP’s price is doing on any given day.

Schwab has been building out dedicated crypto research and product offerings since Ferraioli joined the firm in 2025, after more than a decade at Morgan Stanley covering equities and digital assets.

Sources:

Thinking Crypto: Charles Schwab & TradFi’s Masterplan for Crypto Revealed

RWA.xzy: Ripple USD Data