Ripple announced on Thursday that it will acquire stablecoin payments platform Rail for $200 million, with the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, pending regulatory clearance.
The move comes only weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a law creating a federal framework for stablecoins, raising expectations that the tokens will soon be used more widely in everyday payments.
Ripple said the acquisition will allow it and Rail to deliver “the most comprehensive stablecoin payments solution available in the market,” Reuters reported.
What Rail brings to Ripple?
Rail, based in Toronto and backed by Galaxy Ventures and Accomplice, processes cross-border payments using stablecoins.
According to the company, its transactions cost less and settle in hours instead of the days it can take for traditional fiat transfers.
Rail says it handles 10% of all global stablecoin-based payment activity, giving it a sizable presence in the sector. Ripple said Rail’s systems will add virtual accounts and automated back-office processes to its own payments infrastructure.
Monica Long, president of Ripple, said the timing for this deal is ideal. She said, “As regulations become clearer and the space has grown and matured, this opportunity for stablecoin payments is ripe.”
She added, “The acquisition of Rail just really solidifies our market leadership in stablecoin payments.”
Ripple’s stablecoin push
Ripple has been steadily expanding its footprint in the stablecoin market. It launched RLUSD, its dollar-pegged stablecoin, last year with the aim of challenging market leaders Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
RLUSD has a market cap of more than $611 million, according to CoinGecko, far smaller than Tether’s $164 billion but enough to give Ripple a foothold in the space.
In April, Ripple agreed to acquire multi-asset prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion to help enhance RLUSD’s utility.
By adding Rail, Ripple is aiming to strengthen RLUSD’s role in cross-border commerce. The deal reflects the company’s belief that stablecoins will play a major role in the future of payments, especially now that the U.S. has a federal regime in place for them.
A changing legal and market landscape
Trump’s signing of the stablecoin bill in July has been seen as a pivotal moment for the sector. Analysts believe the new legal clarity could help stablecoins move into mainstream financial use.
These tokens are designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar and are already widely used in crypto markets as a fast way to move between tokens.
Ripple bets that this same utility will make them attractive for global business payments.
Partnership in Dubai
Ripple has also been expanding outside of payments. The Dubai Land Department has joined forces with Ctrl Alt and Ripple Custody to store tokenised real estate title deeds on the XRP Ledger.
The department said the goal is to protect property records by keeping them on a secure and transparent blockchain system.
Also Read: Swiss Crypto Bank AMINA Becomes First Bank To Launch Support For Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin
An unusual admission from Ripple’s CTO
In a separate development, Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz revealed in a post on X that he once wrote fake fan questions during an online Q&A session with the rock band Black Sabbath.
He said he created the experience to include Ozzy Osbourne while working at WebMaster and operating a live chat tool called ConferenceRoom. Schwartz admitted he was the one typing the responses on behalf of the band during the session.