Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has again argued that RLUSD should support activity on the XRP Ledger, even as the stablecoin’s supply is increasingly concentrated elsewhere. According to DefiLlama data cited in the source report, roughly two-thirds of RLUSD now sits on Ethereum despite Ripple’s public effort to frame the token as additive to XRP rather than a replacement for it.

Garlinghouse’s comments came in response to discussion on X and followed remarks at Swell 2026, where he described RLUSD and XRP as complementary. The latest on-chain breakdown, however, shows the stablecoin’s expansion is currently happening more on Ethereum than on Ripple’s own network.

Garlinghouse draws a line between RLUSD and XRP

Replying to a user on X who said RLUSD was great for XRP, Garlinghouse said the stablecoin is not competing with XRP and should instead be viewed against other stablecoins. He added that use case is what matters and said he wants those use cases to run on the XRP Ledger.

He also endorsed a post from an XRP Ledger developer that outlined functional differences between the two assets. As described in the source article, Ripple issues RLUSD and can freeze those tokens, while XRP cannot be frozen. The post also noted that accounts on the ledger require an XRP reserve and that transaction fees are paid in XRP.

Supply data shows Ethereum well ahead

Despite that positioning, the source article says DefiLlama data places about $1.72 billion of RLUSD on Ethereum out of roughly $2.57 billion in total circulation. The XRP Ledger holds about $850 million, leaving Ethereum with close to two-thirds of the supply and XRPL with roughly one-third.

The gap has widened over the past month. During that period, RLUSD on Ethereum grew by about one-third, while supply on the XRP Ledger fell by nearly the same proportion, according to the report.

A reversal from the summer

The current split marks a change from earlier in the year. The source article says the XRP Ledger had overtaken Ethereum during the summer to become RLUSD’s main network, but Ethereum regained the lead in late August.

Ripple has not explained why the balance shifted back. The report points to Ethereum’s deeper decentralized finance market as one possible factor, including access to lending through Aave. By contrast, the XRP Ledger still does not have native lending, and Ethereum also hosted most of RLUSD supply at the outset.

Stablecoin growth continues as Ripple defends XRP’s role

Garlinghouse addressed the relationship between RLUSD and XRP days before the X exchange, at Swell 2026, where he called the two assets very complementary. At the same event, he also pushed back on rumors that Ripple was abandoning XRP in favor of the stablecoin.

The source article adds that RLUSD’s market capitalization has risen more than 88% this year, according to Ripple. It also says Ripple’s new national trust bank charter covers the reserves backing RLUSD. For now, the confirmed picture is that RLUSD continues to grow overall, but most of that supply currently resides on Ethereum rather than the XRP Ledger.

Source: beincrypto.com