Mastercard Praises RLUSD Stablecoin at Hackathon

Global payments firm Mastercard has reportedly given a positive nod to Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin during the ongoing XRP Ledger (XRPL) Hackathon in New York City. According to XRPL community member Lost Art, Mastercard representatives complimented the Ripple-issued RLUSD stablecoin while outlining partner pitch requirements at the event.

Mastercard is serving as an official partner for the two-day hackathon, which is scheduled for October 24 to 25. The event takes place right before Ripple's upcoming Swell conference in New York City, acting as a direct precursor to the main gathering.

Developer Focus on Autonomous Payments

The AI and Fintech XRPL Hackathon is a 36-hour developer competition hosted by XRPL Commons, a non-profit organization dedicated to the XRP Ledger ecosystem. The event brings together developers, entrepreneurs, designers, and financial experts to construct new applications on the network.

Participants are competing for over $40,000 in prizes, with mentorship and judging provided by major entities including Mastercard, Ripple, the XRP Ledger Foundation, Ledger, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and QuickNode. The competition features four specialized tracks: Agentic Finance, Lending and Borrowing, Protocol Innovation, and a catch-all track titled Why Not.

The hackathon places a strong emphasis on autonomous payments utilizing artificial intelligence agents. Such applications are designed to leverage either XRP or the RLUSD stablecoin to execute transactions without requiring human intervention at each individual payment cycle.

Expanding Partnership and Settlement Plans

Mastercard's engagement with Ripple extends well beyond the current developer hackathon. In November 2025, Ripple announced a collaboration with Mastercard, WebBank, and crypto exchange Gemini to examine RLUSD-based settlements for traditional credit card transactions.

Under that proposed framework, RLUSD would facilitate blockchain-based settlements between Mastercard and WebBank, which acts as the bank issuer. Additionally, Ripple was selected in August 2023 as part of the inaugural cohort for Mastercard's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Partner Program.

Mastercard has continued to broaden its stablecoin offerings, announcing in June 2026 its intention to introduce new settlement options incorporating regulated stablecoins like Ripple's RLUSD. The payments giant has also extended support to other stablecoins including Circle's USDC, PayPal's PYUSD, Paxos products, and SoFiUSD.