Moody’s Assigns Ripple RLUSD A2 and P-1 Investment-Grade Deposit Ratings
By Crypto Wire
October 29, 2026
Moody’s Ratings assigned Ripple USD (RLUSD) an A2 long-term deposit rating and a P-1 short-term deposit rating — investment-grade marks on the agency’s deposit scale — according to Moody’s October 27 ratings news and The Block’s October 28 wrap. The ratings apply to RLUSD natively issued by Standard Custody & Trust Company, LLC (SCTC), a wholly owned Ripple Labs subsidiary, on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum under SCTC’s issuance and redemption framework. Ripple’s Jack McDonald, SVP of Stablecoins, told The Block the token is the first stablecoin to receive an investment-grade rating from Moody’s, calling it a “massive validation” for the project — attribute that claim to McDonald, not to a desk ledger of every prior stablecoin rating.
Moody’s said the A2 long-term deposit rating reflects credit quality and market value of RLUSD’s reserve assets, reserve coverage, liquidity and redemption arrangements, segregation of the reserve and third-party custody, plus operational, technological, legal, regulatory, and other structural factors. The P-1 short-term rating is aligned with that long-term grade. Decrypt notes A2 is the sixth-highest long-term grade on Moody’s scale and P-1 is the agency’s top short-term grade. The action sits one day after Ripple’s final OCC national-trust approval for RLUSD rails and follows this week’s Coinbase RLUSD listing across retail, Exchange, and Prime.
Reserve detail is the utility check. Moody’s said the reserve is predominantly invested in highly liquid, short-duration U.S. government assets and cash, and that SCTC targets 103% reserve coverage — above the minimum coverage associated with the rating. Most reserve assets, primarily U.S. Treasury bills, other short-term U.S. government assets, and cash, are held with The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), rated Aa1(cr), as custodian. A limited portion of reserve cash sits with a non-custodian depository institution, currently capped at $50 million and further supported by $50 million of short-term U.S. Treasury bills held separately in a segregated BNY account, per Moody’s.
Redemption and bankruptcy language matters for collectors who treat dollar stables as bid cash. Decrypt and Bitcoin.com wraps of the Moody’s text say eligible onboarded institutions can redeem RLUSD at par within two full business days after a compliant order, with weekly liquidity stress testing supporting that obligation. Moody’s also flagged that SCTC is not a bankruptcy-remote special-purpose entity and that holders do not currently have a direct ownership interest in the reserves — though the agency expects the GENIUS Act, effective January 2027, to strengthen holder safeguards by excluding required reserves from an issuer’s bankruptcy estate. Ratings were assigned under Moody’s Stablecoin methodology published in March 2026 and were requested by the issuer.
Keep secondary market-cap prints careful. Decrypt’s wrap puts RLUSD near about $2.6 billion in the headline frame; The Block’s same-cycle story focuses on the rating rationale rather than a single circulating-supply ledger. Prefer Moody’s dated ratings text for what is rated — SCTC-issued RLUSD on XRPL and Ethereum — over headlines that invent a universal rating for every RLUSD wrapper or venue listing. Moody’s also said deterioration in reserve credit quality or market value, a decline in coverage, or weaker liquidity or redemption capacity could lead to lower ratings.
For NFT desks, the practical read is rated cash-leg infrastructure beside already-live RLUSD distribution. A Moody’s deposit rating does not guarantee a secondary peg or instant retail redemption, but it is a concrete third-party assessment of reserve quality and coverage that institutional desks already cite when choosing settlement stables. Leave Hyperliquid’s cumulative HYPE burn milestone and Invisible Friends’ still-pending second burn closed — today’s unused primary is the dated A2 / P-1 assignment after OCC and Coinbase chapters.
Utility check: The Moody’s A2 / P-1 marks are live opinions on SCTC-issued RLUSD reserves and redemption rails — not vapor marketing — while bankruptcy-remoteness gaps and the January 2027 GENIUS Act reserve-protection clock remain the next structural facts to watch before treating the rating as a finished custody story.
Bottom line: Moody’s assigned RLUSD A2 / P-1 investment-grade deposit ratings on SCTC’s XRPL and Ethereum issuance, citing 103% targeted reserve coverage and BNY custody — with bankruptcy-remoteness gaps still flagged ahead of GENIUS Act protections.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or trading advice. The NFT market is highly volatile, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions related to digital assets. The cover image for this article may have been created using artificial intelligence (AI).
