Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD is live on major crypto exchanges, the U.S.-based crypto company has announced.

The launch of the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin follows the official announcement of its highly anticipated unveiling on December 16. In that communication, Ripple stated that RLUSD would go live on December 17 with key launch partners, including some of the world’s leading crypto exchanges and platforms.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed the stablecoin’s launch on several exchanges in a post on X. These include Uphold, MoonPay, CoinMENA, ArchaxEx, and Bitso. Garlinghouse also noted that Bullish, Mercado Bitcoin, Bitstamp, Zero Hash, and Independent Reserve are set to follow.

RLUSD is natively live on both Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP Ledger.

Following a delay caused by regulatory hurdles, the launch of the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin marks a significant milestone for Ripple. The company secured regulatory approval for RLUSD from the New York State Department of Financial Services earlier this month.

This development positions Ripple as a potential challenger to the dominance of stablecoin giants Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), the two largest USD-pegged stablecoins by market cap.

Like its competitors, RLUSD aims to deliver an enterprise-grade solution that combines the stability of fiat currency with the efficiency of blockchain technology. Users can leverage RLUSD for global payments, crypto on/off ramping, and participation in the rapidly growing tokenized real-world assets market.

Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, described RLUSD as “mile 1 of the marathon.” In addition to instant settlements and on/off ramps, the stablecoin will support collateralization and decentralized finance integrations.

XRP (XRP),which has rallied hard in recent months, was up 4% after the official RLUSD drop. The cryptocurrency has jumped 27% in the past week and 141% in the past month.