Ripple Targets AI Payment Market With XRP and RLUSD as USDC Maintains Lead

Ripple is expanding into the growing AI payments sector with the launch of its XRPL AI Starter Kit, a new set of tools designed to help developers build AI agents that can send and receive payments using XRP and RLUSD on the XRP Ledger.

The initiative focuses on the emerging machine-to-machine payment economy, where AI agents can automatically pay for services such as API access, model inference, invoices and digital resources without requiring human approval for every transaction.

XRP Ledger Features Aim to Attract Developers

Ripple says the XRP Ledger offers advantages including three-to-five-second settlement times, low and predictable transaction fees, native escrow functions, multi-signature support and a built-in decentralized exchange. The platform also supports x402 payments, a protocol that allows online services to request and receive blockchain payments directly through web interactions.

USDC Continues to Dominate the x402 Market

Despite Ripple’s push, the market remains heavily dominated by USDC. Recent chainalysis data shows the x402 ecosystem has processed more than 120 million transactions across 14 blockchains and settled over $41 million in USDC volume.

Base leads activity with roughly 70 million transactions and $21.5 million in volume, while Solana has handled about 45 million transactions worth $16.4 million.

Adoption Remains Key Challenge

While Ripple highlights the benefits of XRP and RLUSD for AI-powered payments, the company has not yet announced major customers, transaction volumes or large-scale production deployments. As competition intensifies, real-world adoption will likely determine whether XRP and RLUSD can secure a meaningful share of the rapidly growing AI payments market.