Mastercard Reportedly Praises RLUSD at New York XRPL Hackathon

Mastercard representatives reportedly complimented Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin while explaining partner pitch requirements at a developer event in New York, according to an attendee’s social media post. The account, published October 24, came from XRPL community member Lost Art, not from Mastercard, Blockonomi reported.

The remark was made during the XRPL Commons hackathon, a 36-hour build sprint running October 24–25, immediately before Ripple’s Swell conference. Mastercard is listed among the event’s ecosystem partners, which also include Ripple, the XRP Ledger Foundation, Ledger, AWS and QuickNode.

Key facts

• The XRPL Commons hackathon runs October 24–25 in New York and offers more than $40,000 in prizes across four developer tracks.
• The reported compliment came from Lost Art’s post on X, which offered no recording, named speaker, or company statement.
• In November 2025, Ripple said Mastercard, WebBank and Gemini would explore RLUSD settlement for fiat card transactions on XRPL, subject to regulatory approval.
• In June 2026, Mastercard announced plans for regulated stablecoin settlement options, naming RLUSD and XRPL alongside USDC, SoFiUSD and Paxos-issued tokens.
• According to U.today, the hackathon’s four tracks are Agentic Finance, Lending & Borrowing, Protocol Innovation, and a catch-all track; Ripple Swell 2026 is set for October 27–29 in New York.

An attendee account, not a company statement

Lost Art wrote on X that Mastercard representatives praised RLUSD live during the partner pitch requirements session. Because the post carries no recording, no named speaker and no direct statement from the payments company, the remark stands as an attendee’s recollection rather than a formal endorsement of the stablecoin.

U.today reported the same post and the same wording, and identified the gathering as the AI & Fintech XRPL Hackathon hosted by XRPL Commons, a non-profit focused on the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Blockonomi described the event as drawing developers building payment applications, lending products and protocol upgrades, with the agentic finance track centred on software that can make payments and transact on-chain without a human approving each cycle, settling in XRP or RLUSD.

What Mastercard has actually committed to

The partnership narrative predates this event. Ripple announced in November 2025 that Mastercard, WebBank — the issuer of the Gemini Credit Card — and Gemini would study RLUSD-based settlement of traditional card transactions, with RLUSD settling on XRPL between the bank and Mastercard. Ripple said onboarding and integration planning remained subject to regulatory approvals.

In June 2026, Mastercard said it planned to add regulated stablecoin settlement options across its network, naming RLUSD and XRPL among supported choices. Blockonomi noted the company did not say whether RLUSD settlement is live with partners today, while U.today also listed PYUSD, Paxos’ USDG and USDP alongside USDC and SoFiUSD. The outlets differ only in which additional tokens they enumerate from that announcement; both name RLUSD and XRPL.

Naming a token among planned options is not the same as a live capability for every bank or card programme. Mastercard has said on-chain settlement would keep existing security, fraud and dispute safeguards running beside traditional processes.

Why it matters

For XRP holders and RLUSD users, the post signals interest from a major payments network in Ripple’s stablecoin but supplies no new volumes, contract or launch date. A partner listing at a hackathon does not show that projects built there will enter Mastercard’s network; deployment still requires a product decision and operational controls. The gap between a reported remark and a formal rollout is the story.

What to watch

Ripple Swell 2026, scheduled for October 27–29 in New York, is the next venue where Ripple or Mastercard could confirm settlement progress, and any regulatory approval of the November 2025 Gemini card pilot would be the concrete data point to track. This article reports company plans and a community account; it is not financial advice, and crypto markets are volatile and uncertain.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not investment, financial or trading advice. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile. Always do your own research.

Sources: Blockonomi, U.today