Gate Research Institute: Ripple Expands RLUSD to Ethereum Layer 2 Network | Visa Announces Launch of Stablecoin Consulting Services

Cryptocurrency Market Overview

• BTC (-4.20% | Current price 85,740 USDT): After failing to break through the key resistance level of $95,000 last week, Bitcoin’s price continued to weaken and gradually fell back into the core supply and demand zone. From a daily chart perspective, both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages are above the price, showing a downward trend slightly above the $100,000 level, further reinforcing the mid-term bearish technical pattern. However, the current price has approached the lower Bollinger Band, and both RSI and KDJ are in oversold territory, indicating that the short-term downward momentum is weakening. The critical demand support zone remains at $79,000–$82,000, where strong buying has previously entered, forming a temporary low point of this correction; if the price faces renewed pressure and declines again, this area is likely to remain the bulls’ key defense zone. On the upside, if Bitcoin can stabilize and close above $94,000 on the daily chart, it will be the first significant signal of a trend reversal; until then, the price is more likely to stay within a range and fluctuate within the correction structure.
• ETH (-5.97% | Current price 2,935 USDT): Although Ethereum recently attempted to rebound, the market has yet to show clear demand signals capable of sustaining a continued rally, and the price has failed to effectively recover the key resistance level. Over the past 24 hours, ETH broke the important psychological threshold of $3,000. From a daily chart perspective, the MA5, MA10, and MA30 are all showing a clear bearish alignment, and MACD has formed a death cross, indicating a still-weak trend and ongoing selling pressure. Looking downward, the $2,500–$2,600 zone remains the most critical demand support zone; this area is not only the starting point of the early strong upward momentum in this cycle but also close to the lower boundary of the overall market structure. If prices weaken further, this zone is expected to become a key defensive area for the bulls, and its performance will be an important guide for the mid-term trend.
• Altcoins: Over the past 24 hours, altcoins have experienced a broad decline, with XRP down 6.21%, SOL down 3.58%, and the altcoin season index at 21, indicating extremely cautious risk sentiment.
• Macroeconomics: On December 15, the S&P 500 index fell 0.16%, closing at 6,816.51 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.09%, closing at 48,416.56 points; the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.59%, closing at 23,057.41 points. As of 11:00 AM UTC+8 on December 16, spot gold is priced at $4,287 per ounce, down 0.41% within 24 hours.

Highlighted Tokens

( ACE Fusionist (+22.17%, Market Cap $22.9023 million)

According to Gate Market data, ACE token is trading at $0.2727, up 22.17% in 24 hours. Fusionist is an independent Web3 game providing AAA quality through Unity and HDRP technology. To ensure fairness, it uses backend driven calculations with KCP and Flatbuffer protocols, minimizing cheating behaviors.

The rise in ACE mainly reflects technical breakout signals, with the price breaking above the 7-day SMA and 30-day MA, and RSI reaching 67.62, approaching the overbought zone. Trading volume surged by 1,370% to $99 million, confirming bullish market sentiment.

) FHE Mind Network (+98.01%, Market Cap $30.876 million)

According to Gate Market data, FHE is currently priced at $0.12452, up 98.01% in 24 hours. Mind Network is pioneering a fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) infrastructure resistant to quantum attacks, enabling secure data and AI computation to drive a fully encrypted internet. In collaboration with industry leaders, Mind Network is building the zero-trust internet protocol HTTPZ, establishing a new standard for trusted AI and encrypted on-chain data processing for Web3 and AI ecosystems.

The recent surge in FHE is driven by Chainlink’s new FHE privacy bridge, powered by Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol CCIP. This bridge enables encrypted cross-chain messaging without exposing sensitive information, deepening the collaboration from the ecosystem level to infrastructure integration.

SOMI Somnia (+8.12%, Market Cap $53.266 million)

According to Gate Market data, SOMI is currently priced at $0.3230, up 8.12% in 24 hours. Somnia is an L1 blockchain and a set of interconnected protocols linking the metaverse, creating a new, open, unified virtual society. It offers developers endless possibilities to create portable and re-mixable content by upgrading existing NFTs.

On December 15, during an exchange interview, Somnia highlighted its EVM-compatible Layer 1 technical innovations, including the MultiStream consensus mechanism and IceDB database, capable of over 1 million TPS and sub-second finality. As underlying performance and ecosystem momentum release in tandem, market expectations for its high-performance positioning have increased, boosting SOMI’s price. Previously, NBA star Tristan Thompson launched a Somnia-based fan interaction app, Basketball.fun, in November, further increasing project visibility. Overall, Somnia is being used by developers for high-performance applications such as gaming and social platforms, with the testnet’s cumulative transactions surpassing 10 billion.

Alpha Insights

Visa Announces Launch of Stablecoin Advisory Services, Providing Stablecoin Strategy and Implementation Plans

On December 15, Visa launched the “Stablecoins Advisory Practice,” aiming to assist banks, fintechs, merchants, and enterprises in developing and implementing stablecoin strategies. Hosted within Visa Consulting & Analytics, the service offers comprehensive consulting including market analysis, strategic planning, technical integration, and deployment support, covering cross-border payments, B2B transactions, and other applications, reflecting the growing demand from traditional financial institutions for stablecoins.

This launch coincides with the expanding global stablecoin market and increasing regulatory clarity. Visa’s own stablecoin settlement business has reached approximately $3.5 billion in annualized transaction volume, demonstrating its ongoing involvement in digital assets. Early clients include Navy Federal Credit Union, Pathward, and VyStar Credit Union, indicating that traditional financial institutions are shifting from exploration to actual deployment of stablecoin solutions. Visa’s strategic approach underscores stablecoins’ transition from niche technology to a mainstream financial infrastructure role, accelerating traditional payment giants’ implementation of digital currency strategies.

Ripple Announces Expansion of RLUSD to Ethereum Layer 2 Networks

On December 15, Ripple announced that it will expand its stablecoin RLUSD to multiple Ethereum Layer 2 networks, including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain. Ripple stated that the plan will initially enter testing, with larger-scale deployment expected next year once conditions are met, pending approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The pilot integrates Wormhole’s native token transfer standard (NTT), enabling RLUSD to achieve cross-chain native transfer without wrapping or synthetic assets, maintaining liquidity integrity and regulatory compliance, while supporting diverse DeFi applications and further optimizing transaction speed and costs.

This move reflects industry efforts toward compliance, cross-chain interoperability, and scalability. The inclusion of RLUSD in Ethereum Layer 2 highlights how rollup technology preserves security while reducing costs and latency, injecting stablecoin liquidity into the most active DeFi infrastructure layer, and enhancing actual usage. Technically, Wormhole’s NTT standard avoids trust issues and friction associated with wrapped assets, allowing RLUSD to transfer cross-chain natively, reducing systemic risks and maintaining asset integrity and composability, thus providing a more robust foundation for high-frequency and complex DeFi scenarios.

Circle Announces Acquisition of Axelar’s Initial Development Team Interop Labs and Its Intellectual Property to Accelerate Cross-Chain Interoperability

On December 16, Circle announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Interop Labs and its proprietary technology assets, with completion expected in early 2026. Interop Labs is a key contributor to the cross-chain communication and token transfer framework Axelar, collaborating closely with the global open-source community to promote ongoing evolution of Axelar network and protocols. Post-acquisition, Circle will integrate the team’s technical expertise and engineering experience to focus on two core strategies: first, the enterprise-focused “Internet economy operating system” Layer 1 blockchain Arc; second, further upgrades to its cross-chain transfer protocol system. It’s important to note that this transaction involves only Interop Labs and its proprietary IP, without affecting Axelar’s independence. The Axelar mainnet, foundation, and AXL token will continue to be community-governed and decentralized, with open-source code and IP remaining accessible.

Strategically, as one of the largest USD stablecoin issuers, Circle’s interests are highly linked to cross-chain interoperability. The widespread adoption of USDC depends on its secure, seamless transfer across different blockchains and applications. This acquisition essentially internalizes the proven cross-chain communication capabilities of Axelar, providing foundational support for Arc and CCTP, shortening product iteration cycles, and potentially elevating interoperability standards to better meet institutional compliance and security requirements.
References:

• Gate, [https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT]###https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT###
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Fortune, https://fortune.com/2025/12/15/visa-launches-stablecoins-advisory-practice/
• X, https://x.com/circle/status/2000612489139232874
• CoinDesk, https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/12/15/ripple-expands-usd1-3b-rlusd-stablecoin-to-ethereum-l2s-via-wormhole-in-multichain-push

[Gate Research Institute](https://www.gate.com/learn/category/research) is a comprehensive blockchain and cryptocurrency research platform providing in-depth content including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.

Disclaimer Investing in cryptocurrencies involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of assets and products before making any investment decisions. ()https://www.gate.com/[Gate] does not assume any liability for losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.