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Magyar25 Oct 2026
Mastercard representatives reportedly complimented Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin during partner pitch requirements at the XRPL Commons hackathon in New York. The comment comes days before Ripple Swell 2026 and adds to an existing Mastercard and Ripple relationship around stablecoin settlement.
Altcoins TradeReviewed News Desk
What happened at the XRPL hackathon
Payments giant Mastercard reportedly praised Ripple’s dollar stablecoin RLUSD during the AI and Fintech XRPL Hackathon in New York, according to U.Today. The report is based on a post on X by XRPL community member Lost Art, who wrote on October 24 that Mastercard “just complimented Ripple’s $RLUSD” while presenting partner pitch requirements to participants.
The remark has not been confirmed in a formal Mastercard statement, so it should be read as an on-stage comment relayed by an attendee rather than a new partnership announcement.
A 36-hour build event before Swell
The hackathon is a 36-hour developer event run by XRPL Commons, a non-profit focused on the XRP Ledger ecosystem, held on October 24 and 25. More than $40,000 in prizes are on offer, and Mastercard, Ripple, the XRP Ledger Foundation, Ledger, Amazon Web Services and QuickNode act as mentors and judges.
There are four tracks: Agentic Finance, Lending and Borrowing, Protocol Innovation and an open “Why Not” category. The main theme is autonomous payments by AI agents, where software could settle in XRP or RLUSD without a human approving every transaction. The event is a warm-up for Ripple Swell 2026, scheduled for October 27 to 29 in New York.
Mastercard and Ripple already work together
The compliment lands on top of an existing relationship. In November 2025, Ripple said it was working with Mastercard, WebBank and the exchange Gemini to study settling traditional credit card transactions in RLUSD, with the stablecoin used for blockchain-based settlement between Mastercard and WebBank as the card issuer. Back in August 2023, Ripple was part of the first cohort of Mastercard’s CBDC Partner Program, alongside Consensys and Fireblocks.
Mastercard has also been widening its stablecoin menu. In June 2026 it announced plans for new settlement options using regulated stablecoins, naming RLUSD next to Circle’s USDC, PayPal’s PYUSD, Paxos’ USDG and USDP, and SoFiUSD.
What it means for traders
- Headline risk around Swell: XRP and RLUSD news flow usually picks up in the days before Ripple’s conference. Comments like this can move sentiment, but they are not new contracts, so check official announcements before acting.
- Stablecoins as payment rails: big card networks adding regulated stablecoins to settlement is a longer-term trend that matters more for adoption than for short-term price.
- Where you trade matters: if you hold XRP or stablecoins on an exchange, compare custody, fees and licensing in our exchange comparison, starting with BingX and OKX. Our testing method explains how we rate them.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
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