XRP Holders Can Now Borrow RLUSD on Ethereum Without Selling Their Crypto

XRP holders now have a new financial lever at their disposal — without having to liquidate their positions. A $280 million lending vault has just gone live on Ethereum, with Flare‘s FXRP accepted as collateral.

This integration marks a concrete milestone in the convergence between the XRP Ledger ecosystem and Ethereum DeFi — two worlds that have long remained siloed. Here is what it actually changes for holders.

Behind this announcement lies an entire cross-chain collateralization mechanism taking shape, with direct implications for the liquidity and utility of XRP outside its native network.

FXRP Approved as Collateral: What It Means in Practice

The FXRP token, issued by the Flare network, is a synthetic representation of XRP that is compatible with Ethereum smart contracts. Its approval as collateral in a $280 million RLUSD lending vault allows XRP holders to unlock stablecoin liquidity without touching their native exposure.

The mechanism is straightforward: a user deposits FXRP as collateral and borrows RLUSD in return — the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple, launched in late 2024. That RLUSD can then be deployed freely across the DeFi ecosystem: yield farming, debt repayment, arbitrage, or simply held in reserve while waiting for the right market opportunity.

This type of structure, which has long been commonplace in DeFi for assets like ETH or wrapped BTC, was until now out of reach for XRP holders who wanted to maintain their exposure. The integration via Flare fills this structural gap by bringing XRP into the EVM environment without requiring a centralized bridge.

Flare as a Bridge Between XRP Ledger and Ethereum DeFi

Flare has positioned itself since launch as a cross-chain connectivity infrastructure, with the explicit mission of bringing non-EVM assets — XRP, Dogecoin, Bitcoin — into the world of smart contracts. FXRP is one of the flagship products of that strategy.

The approval of this collateral in an RLUSD vault represents a concrete validation of the model. It demonstrates that a lending protocol on Ethereum is willing to accept a cross-chain synthetic asset as collateral — which implies a degree of trust in Flare‘s liquidation mechanisms and price feed infrastructure, particularly its native oracle, the FTSO (Flare Time Series Oracle).

For XRP holders, the opportunity is twofold: accessing liquidity without triggering a taxable disposal event, and participating in Ethereum DeFi using an asset they already hold. In a context where XRP consistently ranks among the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, the potential volume of mobilizable collateral is significant.

RLUSD: Ripple’s Stablecoin Steadily Making Its Mark in DeFi

Officially launched in December 2024, RLUSD is a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Ripple on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. Its integration into third-party lending protocols marks an important step in its adoption strategy beyond the native Ripple ecosystem.

By positioning itself as a borrowable asset within a $280 million vault, RLUSD is gaining credibility against established competitors such as USDC and DAI. The presence of a cross-chain collateral like FXRP also diversifies the vault’s collateral base, which can improve its resilience in the event of market stress concentrated on a single asset.

This dynamic reflects a broader trend in DeFi: protocols are actively looking to expand their collateral base in order to attract new users and additional liquidity. For Ripple, every integration of this kind reinforces the perceived utility of RLUSD — a decisive factor for the long-term competitiveness of any stablecoin in increasingly fragmented markets. XRP Makes Its Mark in Hong Kong: OSL Launches First Regulated Retail Trading