Tether is the world’s top stablecoin, and it’s widely used across the biggest blockchains.
Ripple USD mainly operates within its own blockchain, but it’s useful for certain tasks.
Both stablecoins should stay pegged to the U.S. dollar, but one is a safer buy.
10 stocks we like better than Tether ›
Stablecoins are often considered safer alternatives to volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC). They’re usually pegged to a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar. They can be held without a bank account, be used for faster and cheaper cross-border transfers, and help people preserve their capital in countries plagued by hyperinflation.
They’re not designed to beat the market over the long term, but they can earn higher yields than traditional savings accounts across centralized and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. They can also fund payments on decentralized apps (dApps) across various blockchains.
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The world’s largest stablecoins are all pegged to the U.S. dollar. At first glance, they might look identical because they’re all trading at $1 a token. But if we dig deeper, we’ll see that they’re backed by different assets and integrated into different ecosystems. Let’s review two of those popular stablecoins — Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) and Ripple USD(CRYPTO: RLUSD) — and see how their differences might make them more or less appealing to certain investors.
Tether, with a market cap of $183.5 billion, is the world’s most valuable stablecoin. It was launched by Tether Limited, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based iFinex (which also owns the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange), in 2014. It was initially minted on Bitcoin’s blockchain, subsequently minted as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum‘s (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain, and minted across other smaller blockchains as it was more widely accepted.
Ripple USD, with a market cap of $1 billion, ranks a distant ninth in the stablecoin race. It was launched by fintech company Ripple Labs, whose founders also created the XRP(CRYPTO: XRP) cryptocurrency, in 2024. It was pre-mined natively on the XRP Ledger.
Tether is more broadly used on DeFi platforms and dApps than Ripple USD. Ripple’s XRP Ledger isn’t natively compatible with Ethereum and other popular blockchains, so Ripple USD is still primarily used for money transfers within Ripple’s own payment platform.
Ripple USD is also often used as a “bridge currency” for fiat currency transfers. Instead of directly converting fiat currencies into each other — which can be slow, expensive, and inefficient — both fiat currencies are simply converted to Ripple USD (as a bridge) and converted back to their original currencies.
Unlike other stablecoins, which are only backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries, Tether uses a mix of cash, commercial paper, and other assets to stay pegged to the U.S dollar. It submits its summaries of those reserves to a third-party accounting firm, but it hasn’t opened up its books to full audits yet. That lack of total financial transparency — along with its controversial ties to China — makes Tether a more opaque investment than many other USD-backed stablecoins.
Ripple USD isn’t a centralized token like Tether, which is directly minted by Tether Limited. Instead, each token is an “IOU” issued by individual gateways (like Bitstamp and GateHub) on the XRP Ledger. Those IOUs stay pegged to the U.S. dollar because they’re backed by the cash in the issuers’ own bank accounts.
When you buy Ripple USD, you need to check the reputation of the issuing gateway. If that gateway fails because it didn’t have enough cash to back up its IOUs, you could forfeit that money — just like how you could lose your savings if a non-FDIC-insured bank fails. So even though Ripple USD is diversified across a wide range of gateways, it’s still a trust-based system.
Ripple USD might be a better stablecoin if you regularly use the XRP Ledger for payments or bridge currency transactions. But if you’re simply looking for a safe stablecoin to buy, hold, and lend out for interest or use in dApps, then Tether is a better buy. It’s more widely used, compatible with the top blockchains, and doesn’t run on individual gateways.
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Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Better Stablecoin Buy: Tether (USDT) vs. Ripple USD (RLUSD) was originally published by The Motley Fool
Boeing’s Stephanie Pope gives a press conference at the Paris Le Bourget Airport, on June 20, 2023.
Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | AFP | Getty Images
Boeing aims to stabilize aircraft production at current levels before advancing to the next industrial milestones as it implements safety and quality improvements, its top jetmaking executive said on Sunday.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope told reporters it was too early to say when Boeing would push 737 jet output to 47 a month, having recently been cleared by regulators to reach 42 a month after the lifting of temporary output curbs.
“Getting it better at (the right) pace is better than going fast,” Pope said in a briefing ahead of the Dubai Airshow.
Production milestones
Boeing won approval last month to raise 737 output to 42 per month, easing a 38-plane cap in place since a 2024 mid-air blowout caused by missing bolts in a door plug. The incident revealed widespread safety and quality lapses at Boeing.
The U.S. planemaker is now producing 42 of the jets a month and is on the brink of reaching eight a month on the 787 model.
“My initial focus is stabilizing at those two rates,” Pope said, adding this would involve meeting six targets agreed with the Federal Aviation Administration, including keeping tabs on supplier shortages and out-of-sequence work.
The trend in such industrial glitches is falling, Pope said.
Asked when the next milestones of 47 a month for the 737 and 10 for the 787 could be reached, Pope said, “I cannot put a definition on it … we’ll go up in rate when the system is ready to go up in rate.”
New ‘North line’ at Everett factory
After decades of producing 737s at its Renton factory, south of Seattle, Boeing is setting up a new “North line” in its cavernous wide-body Everett factory north of the city to accommodate higher production of the narrow-body jet.
Pope said this would not be needed until Boeing takes the next step towards pre-Covid levels of 52 a month.
Asked whether Boeing would then follow Airbus even higher, Pope said: “My near-term focus is one rate break at a time.” But she added that part of the thinking behind extra capacity “is so we can meet the market and meet our customers’ demand long term.”
Boeing has fallen industrially well behind Airbus, partly due to the success of its European rival’s A321neo and partly because of a series of safety and industrial mishaps on its 737 series, which generates most of the company’s cash.
Airbus is producing 63 of the wider A320neo-family jets per month and plans to reach 75 per month by 2027, although some suppliers have questioned whether this is achievable.
Analysts say the production plans are critical for both companies as Boeing repairs its finances and Airbus attempts to build up a war chest for the next generation of planes.
CHESTER, Pa. – There’s a new skill that Gio Reyna has identified and been working to add to his building arsenal, and on Saturday night against Paraguay, the 23-year-old midfielder reaped the reward.
DUBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Airbus expects the Middle East’s regional aircraft fleet to more than double to 3,700 planes by 2044, an official said on Sunday.
The European planemaker expects passenger traffic in the Middle East to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.4% over the next two decades, Airbus Head of Marketing in Africa and the Middle East Grainne van den Berg told a press conference.
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Airbus also expects the services market in the region to double to $29.9 billion by the end of 2044, van den Berg added.
The forecast came ahead of the Dubai Airshow, the largest Middle East aviation event taking place on November 17-21.
Airbus, which is among the planemakers taking part as it vies for orders with its main competitor Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab, predicts widebody aircraft will make up 42% of total demand in the region by 2044, representing the highest share globally.
“The Middle East is transforming global aviation, and the forecast fleet expansion is truly significant, particularly when it comes to widebodies,” said Airbus President in Africa and Middle East Gabriel Semelas.
“This region is becoming the long-haul hub now and into the future,” Semelas added.
Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai; Writing by Menna Alaa El-Din in Cairo; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alexander Smith
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
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