The stablecoin $RLUSD is now listed on the four largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, providing Ripple's stablecoin with the broadest access in one of the world's most active digital asset markets. Coinone and Korbit paved the way earlier, with Upbit and Bithumb completing the expansion, making $RLUSD available to a much wider range of won-based traders.
On July 30, Jack McDonald, Ripple's Senior Vice President of Stablecoins and CEO of Standard Custody, highlighted the expansion of $RLUSD's presence on leading Korean exchanges on X:
"$RLUSD is now live on the four largest Korean exchanges. Upbit and Bithumb — Korea's two largest licensed exchanges — have added direct $RLUSD trading, joining Coinone and Korbit. Regulated, fully reserved access for institutional and retail investors, directly in Korean Won. Onwards!"
This post from the Ripple executive on X was in response to Upbit's $RLUSD announcement published on July 27, which stated that trading would open on markets in Korean Won, BTC, and USDT. The listing provided traders with multiple ways to access $RLUSD and brought the stablecoin to South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Bithumb Completes Listing on Four Largest Exchanges
On July 29, Bithumb became the fourth of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges to list $RLUSD, opening a direct won market and providing support for deposits and withdrawals exclusively via the $XRP Ledger.
On March 23, Coinone announced the opening of the $RLUSD/KRW market, and Korbit also supported this stablecoin before Upbit and Bithumb expanded $RLUSD's presence on South Korea's two largest crypto exchanges. The listing on Coinone gave $RLUSD an early presence in the South Korean won-pegged stablecoin market.
Ripple Expands $RLUSD Use Beyond Exchange Listings
The implementation in South Korea is part of broader efforts to enable the use of $RLUSD in trading, payments, and institutional settlements. According to Ripple's overview of $RLUSD, the stablecoin's reserves include cash deposits, short-term U.S. Treasury securities, government money market funds, repurchase agreements, and other cash equivalents held in segregated accounts, with monthly attestations ensuring redemption at a rate of $1 for eligible customers.
Ripple has also built operational infrastructure based on this reserve model. The Ripple Mint platform allows approved institutions to mint and redeem $RLUSD via a web console or integrate these features directly into internal systems using APIs and webhooks. Clients can monitor balances and transaction status, receive real-time updates as mint and redeem operations are processed, and choose supported fiat or crypto payout destinations. BNY acts as the primary custodian for the stablecoin's reserves and provides transactional banking services enabling the movement of reserve assets and cash related to conversions.
The company has also expanded $RLUSD reach across blockchain networks and major exchanges. Initially launched on the $XRP Ledger and Ethereum, $RLUSD has extended its presence to the XRPL EVM Sidechain, Base, Optimism, Ink, and Unichain, spreading its use to exchanges, decentralized finance protocols, payment applications, and other on-chain services.
