Ripple Unveils Two Key Payment Expansions—Here’s What to Expect

• This Ripple expansion strengthens the Portugal-Brazil payment corridor and enhances the practical use of XRP for transaction settlements.

• The blockchain firm has significantly ramped up the issuance of its RLUSD stablecoin, minting over 10 million tokens in recent days to meet growing demand.

Ripple expanded its global payments network by integrating Unicâmbio, Portugal’s largest currency exchange provider. According to the company’s president, Monica Long, the development has been announced on the platform X, where she pointed out that Ripple is increasingly gaining control over cross-border transactions.

A Look At Ripple’s Latest Partnership

Unicâmbio’s corporate customers will now have access to Ripple Payments, formerly known as On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), for fast and cheaper funds transfers, as mentioned in our previous article. This is a big milestone for Ripple because it strengthens the Portugal-Brazil payment corridor. Already, the region houses key financial players, including Brazil-based Travelex Bank and Mercado Bitcoin.

A top executive at Unicâmbio, Adriana Jerónimo, underlined the strong economic and cultural ties between Portugal and Brazil-a reason why this expansion is extremely important. With this in mind, Ripple Payments uses XRP for transaction settlement, saving on the cost and reducing settlement time. Including Unicâmbio enhances the practicality of the token in the financial network.

However, this news has not seen a major price hike in XRP. The Ripple’s XRP price increased by a modest 5% before retreating slightly. Currently, at the time of writing this report, XRP price stood at $2.47, gaining 2.07% in the last 24 hours. Whilst, the trading volume for XRP plunged 17.65% to $4.53 billion, signaling relatively lesser market interest as compared to recent days.

Nonetheless, analysts remain bullish on the XRP price future owing to Ripple’s latest expansion program. Further, they have provided targets as high as $8 for this year. For this, they believe that XRP must reclaim the critical $3 mark and ace a new all-time high, as per the previous CNF report. 

Ripple Increases Issuance of RLUSD Amid Surging Demand

While expanding its payments network, Ripple is also increasing the circulation of RLUSD, its recently launched stablecoin. Over the past 14 hours, the company’s treasury minted two substantial batches of 425,000 and 625,000 RLUSD, according to data from the Ripple Stablecoin Tracker.

This follows a significantly larger issuance over the weekend, during which Ripple minted 9.1 million RLUSD within a 12-hour window. The increased supply aligns with RLUSD’s growing adoption, particularly after securing listings on Revolut, a leading digital banking platform, and Zero Hash, a prominent crypto infrastructure provider.

Ripple’s recent advancements in both payment and stablecoin sectors suggest it is strategically emphasizing its stronghold within the financial framework. The firm continues to lead the charge to improve transaction settlement efficiency and the overall utility of its blockchain. Also, the SEC lawsuit is expected to take a backseat soon, with pro-crypto Paul Atkins joining as the Chairman.