This is breaking—AMINA just pressed “go”
I swear I looked away from the charts for two minutes to pour more coffee, and AMINA Bank AG (yep, the Zürich outfit formerly known as SEBA) dropped a Friday-afternoon bomb: they’re now officially offering custody and OTC trading for Ripple’s brand-new RLUSD stablecoin. The bank is bragging—loudly—that it’s the first global bank to touch RLUSD. Swiss neutrality? Apparently it extends to being early to every crypto asset with a pulse.
Here’s what actually happened
• AMINA’s press desk hit the wires at 14:03 CET.
• They say RLUSD deposits are live “for professional and institutional clients” right now—retail still waiting.
• Trading pairs: RLUSD/CHF, RLUSD/USD, and—oddly—RLUSD/XRP. No BTC pair yet. That surprised me.
• Minimum trade size: 100k RLUSD. Classic private-bank move.
I’ve noticed AMINA loves to gatekeep size; back in October they set the same floor for USDC. Makes sense—keeps the riff-raff from spamming orders and lets their desk collect those chunky spreads.
Why does Ripple even need a stablecoin?
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse keeps saying RLUSD is “the missing settlement leg” for enterprise clients who don’t want volatility risk. Translation: big banks didn’t like holding XRP. RLUSD is still on-chain—built on the XRPL—but it’s pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and allegedly backed by T-Bills and cash. Kind of Circle-esque, but with Ripple’s marketing gloss.
Personally, I think Ripple is tired of watching Coinbase and Circle print money on USDC fees. A self-issued stableship means they keep the float and drive more volume into their own liquidity hubs.
Market’s knee-jerk reaction
XRP spiked 3.8% in the ten minutes after the headline, then cooled off. RLUSD isn’t even on CoinGecko yet, but OTC desks on Telegram are quoting it at a clean 100.01–100.05. Zero discount, which is honestly rare on day one. I wonder if that’s AMINA market-making behind the curtain.
ETH traders in my Discord are already asking if RLUSD will hit Uniswap. Makes sense—biggest stables pick up DeFi traction fast. But Ripple’s press kit mentions “regulatory-compliant venues only,” which sounds like they’re steering clear of wild-west DEXs for now.
Tangent I can’t ignore: Swiss regulators are sneaky fast
Remember when FINMA rubber-stamped Bitcoin ETF custody for local banks months before the SEC even looked awake? Switzerland’s regulatory sandbox is turning into an alpha factory. If you’re an American fund manager stuck with patchy state money-transmitter rules, you’ve got to be jealous right now.
What this means for your cold wallet
If AMINA succeeds, we might finally see serious, bank-grade on-ramps out of tether risk. In my experience, USDT redemptions can feel like pulling teeth—especially if you’re off-shore. A Swiss-backed RLUSD could pressure Tether’s dominance, even if just among euro-based funds.
The flip side? Concentration risk. One bank is easier for regulators to squeeze than a decentralized mint like MakerDAO’s DAI. I’m watching to see if David Schwartz (Ripple CTO) pushes for multi-custodian backing. He hinted at it on X last month.
“Custody fragmentation is the point; you never want all reserves in one jurisdiction.” —David Schwartz, X post, April 3
Questions I’m still chewing on
1. Will Binance list RLUSD or wait for a few audit reports?
2. Does AMINA hedge RLUSD/CHF exposure via CME FX futures or just eat it?
3. How soon before a whale farms incentives by looping RLUSD on Aave? (Assuming Aave even whitelists it.)
Where the puck might go next
I think we’re about to witness a stablecoin land-grab 2.0. First USDC went multi-chain, then PayPal sneaked in with PYUSD, and now Ripple’s banking buddies want a slice. Keep an eye on how quickly RLUSD gets real on-chain analytics—if Nansen starts tracking top holders by Monday, expect CT (Crypto Twitter) to pick apart the whale wallets.
Call to action—don’t just scroll past
If you custody assets in Switzerland or dabble in OTC, ping your broker now and ask about RLUSD settlement. Even if you’re not an XRP maxi, cheaper cross-border swaps are always good alpha. And if you spot RLUSD on a DEX before the weekend’s over, DM me—I owe the first tipster a ledger NFT I’ve been hoarding.
