Moody's rates Ripple's RLUSD A2, the first investment-grade stablecoin rating
Ripple's RLUSD drew the first investment-grade stablecoin rating Moody's has assigned, under a rulebook published only in March 2026. The quiet winner is the rating agency, whose stamp now reaches a $299 billion market just as a January 2027 law makes grades matter.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
The stamp the issuer asked for
On October 27, Moody's+0.59% — Moody's, up 0.59 percent today Ratings assigned Ripple's dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, an A2 long-term and P-1 short-term deposit rating, both investment grade 126. Jack McDonald, Ripple's senior vice president for stablecoins, called it the first investment-grade stablecoin rating in the agency's history and "massive validation" for the project. Moody's added a detail the celebrations skipped: the issuer, Standard Custody & Trust Company, requested the grades. 126
What an A2 prices
The grade scores the reserve, not the blockchain. Moody's cited short-dated US Treasuries and cash held mostly at BNY, a 103 percent coverage target above its minimum, and redemption at par within two business days for qualifying institutions. 126 RLUSD, launched in December 2024, runs about $2.6 billion, a minnow next to Tether's $181.8 billion in a $299 billion stablecoin market. 689
Moody's can now grade a $299B market; its first investment-grade coin holds $2.6B of it
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Tether (USDT) | $181.78B |
| USD Coin (USDC) | $71.28B |
| Sky Dollar (USDS) | $6.66B |
| Ethena USDe | $4.54B |
| World Liberty USD1 | $3.92B |
| Ripple RLUSD | $2.57B |
A rate card with two new legs
Stablecoins are the second market Moody's has opened to its stamp this month. On October 6 and 7 it priced its first stablecoin protocol, Sky, at B3, deep in junk, citing roughly $90 million of equity against $10 billion of managed assets. 7
On October 27, the same day as the RLUSD grade, its analysts said AI borrowing is pushing private credit beyond data centers into land, power and chips, with the five largest US hyperscalers plus CoreWeave+0.98% — CoreWeave, up 0.98 percent today heading toward nearly $1 trillion of 2027 capital spending. 12 The Stablecoin rulebook itself dates only to March 2026. 12 Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) has grown revenue year over year for twelve straight quarters. 11
Twelve straight quarters of year-over-year revenue growth at Moody's
Data
| Revenue ($B) | |
|---|---|
| Q4 '23 | $1.48B |
| Q1 '24 | $1.79B |
| Q2 '24 | $1.82B |
| Q3 '24 | $1.81B |
| Q4 '24 | $1.67B |
| Q1 '25 | $1.92B |
| Q2 '25 | $1.9B |
| Q3 '25 | $2.01B |
| Q4 '25 | $1.89B |
| Q1 '26 | $2.08B |
| Q2 '26 | $2.19B |
| Q3 '26 | $2.02B |
One company, two messages
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, the research arm of the same listed company, posted a risk matrix two days before the Fed's October 28 decision that ranks a crypto crash among the most likely shocks of the next 12 to 18 months, while seeing limited damage to the wider economy. 34 One arm of Moody's is selling crypto a hall pass while the other files it on the crash list.
The fine print against the distribution
Moody's own opinion carries the caveats: Standard Custody is not bankruptcy-remote, holders have no direct claim on reserves, and a bankruptcy filing could stretch redemption times. 26 The GENIUS Act, effective January 18, 2027, moves required reserves outside an issuer's bankruptcy estate, and firmer holder claims are the named route to an upgrade. 267
Ripple's offset is reach: final approval on October 26 for Ripple National Trust Bank to hold the reserves, Robinhood's−4.08% — Robinhood, down 4.08 percent today 28.6 million funded customers and a Coinbase−1.79% — Coinbase, down 1.79 percent today listing. 5910 Whether XRP holders capture any of that value remains an open question. 5
The number to count
The dated marker is January 18, 2027, when the GENIUS Act takes effect and US users are steered toward stablecoins from permitted issuers. 7 The tell is a simple count: how many stablecoins carry a Moody's grade by early 2028 5. Every new grade is fee revenue at MCO, and none of it is promised to XRP holders. 5
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