The game of stablecoins is truly reshuffling right now.

Ripple's injection of 40 million RLUSD into Gemini may seem ordinary, but it's actually a direct challenge to USDT and USDC. The stablecoin market has grown at an incredible rate over the past two years — from 130 billion at the start of 2025 to 308 billion, with an annual growth rate of 136%. The US Treasury Secretary even predicts it will surpass 2 trillion in the next few years. But what is the current situation? USDT accounts for 65% of the market share, USDC holds 25%, and other stablecoins combined make up only 10%.

In other words, newcomers like RLUSD need to find new battlegrounds rather than competing head-to-head. Ripple has identified enterprise payments and cross-border settlements as their focus. Why? Because RLUSD was designed from the start for this purpose — specifically for cross-border transactions denominated in USD. As a leading compliant US exchange, Gemini is also expanding into institutional business. In November last year, the two partnered with Mastercard to pilot credit card settlement. This 40 million RLUSD injection is essentially completing the final piece of the puzzle: a complete closed-loop system involving stablecoin issuers, exchanges, and payment giants.

Compared to the solo approach of USDT and USDC, this trio's strategy is clearly different. If they truly work together, it could have a significant impact on traditional cross-border payments.