---
title: "Moody's rates Ripple's RLUSD A2, the first investment-grade stablecoin rating"
description: "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."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Economy"
published: 2026-10-28T15:36:14.420Z
modified: 2026-10-28T15:36:14.420Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/moody-s-rates-ripple-s-rlusd-a2-the-first-investment-grade-stablecoin-rating
language: en
keywords: "Stablecoins, Ripple, Credit Ratings, Crypto, Moody's, Regulation"
---

# 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.

## The stamp the issuer asked for

On October 27, [Moody's](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/moody-s) Ratings assigned Ripple's dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, [an A2 long-term and P-1 short-term deposit rating](https://www.theblock.co/news/web3/2026-10-28-moodys-ripple-rlusd-stablecoin-431969), both investment grade [1][2][6]. 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. [1][2][6]

## 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. [1][2][6] RLUSD, launched in December 2024, [runs about $2.6 billion](https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/moody-s-assigns-a2-long-term-rating-to-ripple-s-2-6-billion-rlusd-stablecoin), a minnow next to [Tether](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tether)'s $181.8 billion in [a $299 billion stablecoin market](https://defillama.com/stablecoins). [6][8][9]

*Chart: **Moody's can now grade a $299B market; its first investment-grade coin holds $2.6B of it** Bar chart ranking stablecoins by market capitalization: Tether $181.8B, USD Coin $71.3B, Sky Dollar $6.7B, Ethena USDe $4.5B, World Liberty USD1 $3.9B, Ripple RLUSD $2.6B.*

*Stablecoin market capitalization in billions of dollars, October 28, 2026. Sources: DefiLlama; RLUSD figure from DeFiLlama data via Cointelegraph. [8][9]*

## 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](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/moody-just-rated-stablecoin-protocol-063451301.html), 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](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/coreweave) heading toward nearly $1 trillion of 2027 capital spending. [12] The Stablecoin rulebook itself dates only to March 2026. [1][2] Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) has grown revenue year over year for twelve straight quarters. [11]

*Chart: **Twelve straight quarters of year-over-year revenue growth at Moody's** Line chart of Moody's Corporation quarterly revenue from Q4 2023 ($1.48B) to Q3 2026 ($2.02B), rising most quarters.*

*Moody's Corporation quarterly revenue, billions of dollars, Q4 2023 through Q3 2026. Source: SEC filings, retrieved October 28, 2026. [11]*

## 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. [3][4] 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. [2][6] 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. [2][6][7]

Ripple's offset is reach: [final approval on October 26 for Ripple National Trust Bank to hold the reserves](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/27/ripple-gets-a-final-go-ahead-to-launch-its-own-u-s-national-trust-bank), [Robinhood](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/robinhood)'s 28.6 million funded customers and a [Coinbase](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/coinbase) listing. [5][9][10] 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](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/xrp-holders-gain-ripple-moody-125950207.html) [5]. Every new grade is fee revenue at MCO, and none of it is promised to XRP holders. [5]

## Takeaway

Moody's first investment-grade stablecoin rating covers the reserve, not the chain, and arrives just before the GENIUS Act makes grades matter; each new stablecoin grade is fee revenue at MCO.

## Sources

1. [The Block, "Moody's assigns investment-grade ratings to Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin", 28 October 2026](https://www.theblock.co/news/web3/2026-10-28-moodys-ripple-rlusd-stablecoin-431969)
2. [Unchained via Yahoo Finance, "Moody's Assigns A2 Deposit Rating to Ripple's RLUSD, Ties Upgrade Path to GENIUS Act", 28 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/moody-assigns-a2-deposit-rating-134500718.html)
3. [TheStreet, "Moody's sounds crypto crash alarm: Why Bitcoin investors should care", 28 October 2026](https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/moodys-sounds-crypto-crash-alarm-why-bitcoin-investors-should-care)
4. [Cryptoprowl via Yahoo Finance, "Moody's Assigns Investment-Grade Rating To Ripple's Stablecoin", 28 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/moody-assigns-investment-grade-rating-131900671.html)
5. [BeInCrypto via Yahoo Finance, "Will XRP Holders Gain From Ripple's Moody's-Rated Stablecoin?", 28 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/xrp-holders-gain-ripple-moody-125950207.html)
6. [KuCoin News, "Moody's Assigns A2 Long-Term Rating to Ripple's $2.6 Billion RLUSD Stablecoin", 28 October 2026](https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/moody-s-assigns-a2-long-term-rating-to-ripple-s-2-6-billion-rlusd-stablecoin)
7. [Yahoo Finance, "Moody's Just Rated a Stablecoin Protocol for the First Time, and the Numbers Are Uncomfortable", 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/moody-just-rated-stablecoin-protocol-063451301.html)
8. [DefiLlama, "Stablecoins by Market Cap", retrieved 28 October 2026](https://defillama.com/stablecoins)
9. [Cointelegraph, "Ripple Unveils Robinhood, BNY and C2FO Deals at Swell 2026", 27 October 2026](https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-robinhood-expand-partnership-rlusd-retail-institutional-markets)
10. [CoinDesk, "Ripple gets a final go-ahead to launch its own U.S. national trust bank", 27 October 2026](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/27/ripple-gets-a-final-go-ahead-to-launch-its-own-u-s-national-trust-bank)
11. [Moody's Corporation, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 28 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001059556)
12. [Reuters via U.S. News, "AI Financing Driving Private Credit Growth as Refinancing Risks Rise, Moody's Says", 27 October 2026](https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2026-10-27/ai-financing-driving-private-credit-growth-as-refinancing-risks-rise-moodys-says)


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Moody's rates Ripple's RLUSD A2, the first investment-grade stablecoin rating — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/moody-s-rates-ripple-s-rlusd-a2-the-first-investment-grade-stablecoin-rating