Stablecoins have become one of the largest opportunities in crypto. And now, Ripple wants in.

‍What’s happening:‍

• Crypto company Ripple has announced they will launch a United States dollar backed stablecoin
  

Why it matters:‍

• Ripple has previously been entirely focused on digital assets to disrupt cross border payments and traditional financial payment networks
  
• Stablecoin projects are amongst some of most lucrative and profitable operations in crypto, which has led to many new entrants recently beginning to emerge to try to capture some of the opportunity
  

By the numbers:‍

• The cumulative market capitalization of Tether and USDC’s stablecoins is approximately $150B USD
  

Going deeper:‍

• PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) previously launched their own stablecoin, known as PY-USD
  
• A new type of synthetic stablecoin backed by crypto venture capital fund Dragonfly and BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes recently launched on centralized crypto exchanges, aiming to disrupt the paradigm of how stablecoins underpin their value
  
• The parent company behind USDC previously confidentially filed with the SEC to list on a major United States stock exchange
  

The intrigue:‍

• Ripple has been one of the most controversial companies in crypto after prolonged legal battles with regulators over their flagship payment token XRP, in which Ripple was ultimately vindicated and not found to be liable of any wrongdoing

‍