Mastercard teamed up with Ripple and Gemini to test stablecoin settlements for traditional credit card payments using the XRP Ledger. 

The initiative will deploy RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin regulated by New York’s Department of Financial Services, to process fiat transactions through WebBank, the companies said Wednesday.

This marks a significant development where regulated U.S. banking infrastructure integrates with public blockchain technology for everyday card settlements. WebBank currently issues Gemini’s credit cards, which offer cryptocurrency rewards including BTC, SOL, and XRP versions. All Gemini card transactions could potentially settle via RLUSD once regulatory approvals are secured.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

The project awaits formal regulatory clearance before onboarding begins in coming months. RLUSD launched in December on Ethereum and XRP Ledger, reaching over $1 billion market capitalization as the 11th largest stablecoin. 

Ripple secured $500 million funding at a $40 billion valuation, while XRP traded at $2.26 following the announcement.