NathanWA

What's the difference between XRP and stablecoins like RLUSD? RLUSD is optional. XRP isn't. RLUSD is a dollar-backed token issued by Ripple. As the issuer, Ripple has to follow US law and can freeze RLUSD. XRP has no issuer and no jurisdiction, and nobody can freeze it. It's a commodity. XRP also has a privileged role on the XRP Ledger. Every account can hold it by default, and everyone has to use it: accounts need an XRP reserve, and every transaction fee is paid in XRP. RLUSD you have to opt into it (TRUST-line). On top of that, the DEX automatically checks whether bridging through XRP gives a better rate on a cross-currency swap (e.g. USD → EUR). No other asset gets that by default. Another important difference: XRP is volatile. Like any commodity, it isn't backed by anything, so its price is whatever the market says it is. That volatility is exactly what attracts traders and investors. RLUSD is the opposite: 1 RLUSD = 1 USD. Just from this we can already see that different use cases gravitate towards each asset. Whenever you need stable value for payroll, invoices etc, don't hold a volatile asset like XRP. Price swings shouldn't decide whether you can fund your operations. Stablecoins for any national currency fit here, and RLUSD is one of many even among the dollar stablecoins. Whenever you need a neutral asset that nobody controls, not even a government, and you want to reduce your counterparty risk, XRP is the only choice on the XRP Ledger. There is no alternative. Turns out these properties also make XRP very attractive to market makers bridging pools of liquidity. They only have to worry about XRP's price, not whether the issuer of some token runs into trouble. The more successful the XRP Ledger becomes, the more accepted XRP becomes and to make it successful we leverage our strengths and the things we are good at. This includes the activity of stablecoins and other assets.