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Ripple CEO reaffirms commitment to XRP amid stablecoin pivot speculation
Brad Garlinghouse dismissed market concerns that Ripple is abandoning XRP in favor of its RLUSD stablecoin.
Key takeaways
- Complementary assets. Garlinghouse framed XRP and RLUSD as mutually beneficial, with the stablecoin adding liquidity to the XRP Ledger rather than replacing the native token.
- Revenue growth. Ripple's annual revenue run rate reached approximately $900 million, with growth spread across payments, Ripple Prime, and Ripple Treasury services.
- Institutional adoption. The company has expanded integrations with major financial institutions including BNY, HSBC, DBS, and Standard Chartered.
What happened
During Ripple Swell 2026, CEO Brad Garlinghouse directly addressed months of community speculation that the company has quietly shifted focus away from XRP toward its dollar stablecoin RLUSD. In remarks reported by U.Today and Coinpedia, Garlinghouse stated unambiguously that Ripple remains committed to XRP, rejecting the premise that supporting RLUSD represents an abandonment of the company's flagship token.
Garlinghouse acknowledged hearing criticism that Ripple was "leaning into RLUSD" at XRP's expense, but characterized this interpretation as a misunderstanding of the company's strategy. He emphasized that Ripple would never take actions harmful to the XRP ecosystem, describing the relationship between the two assets as complementary rather than competitive. According to Garlinghouse, RLUSD serves as one contributor among several drivers of momentum around XRP rather than a replacement for it.
The CEO's public reassurance came as Ripple announced significant business milestones. The company disclosed an annual product revenue run rate of approximately $900 million, up from roughly $300 million the previous year. Garlinghouse attributed the growth to expansion across payments services, Ripple Prime, and Ripple Treasury, which now serves more than 1,000 corporate clients. He also noted that acquisitions made the prior year are performing "incredibly well."
First $1.51Latest $1.29-14.6% over the period
Points are daily observations, not closing prices.
Why it matters
The clarification addresses a persistent concern within the XRP community about Ripple's strategic direction. Because much of Ripple's revenue growth stems from products that do not require XRP to function, observers have questioned whether the token remains central to the company's business model. Garlinghouse's statement attempts to reconnect Ripple's commercial success with the value proposition of XRP itself, signaling that expanding institutional adoption benefits the entire XRP ecosystem.
Background
The speculation about Ripple's commitment to XRP emerges from the company's broader evolution following its regulatory settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. After five years of legal confrontation with the SEC between 2020 and 2025, Ripple shifted its focus toward regulatory compliance and institutional adoption. Garlinghouse identified the GENIUS Act as a turning point that provided clarity for the company and institutional players alike.
Ripple's recent approvals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to launch Ripple National Trust Bank as a federally chartered institution marked a significant infrastructural development. This regulatory status enabled RLUSD to reach major cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase, Robinhood, Binance, Kraken, and OKX. Simultaneously, Ripple reported that multi-product integrations with major financial institutions including BNY Mellon, HSBC, DBS, and Standard Chartered tripled in recent periods, with BNY launching a trade finance tokenization project directly on the XRP Ledger.
What to watch
The proof of Ripple's XRP commitment will ultimately lie in execution. Observers will monitor whether the company successfully migrates its growing volumes of off-chain treasury and brokerage activity onto the XRP Ledger and whether these transactions increasingly settle in XRP itself. Garlinghouse positioned XRP as uniquely suited for use cases worth many trillions of dollars due to the blockchain's speed and scalability, but translating this potential into adoption remains the central challenge ahead.
Questions readers ask
Is Ripple abandoning XRP for RLUSD?
No, according to Garlinghouse. He stated that Ripple views XRP and RLUSD as complementary assets rather than competitors, with RLUSD contributing to broader momentum around XRP by adding on-chain liquidity.
How much revenue is Ripple generating?
Ripple disclosed an annual product revenue run rate of approximately $900 million, up from around $300 million the previous year, with growth across payments, Ripple Prime, and Ripple Treasury services.
What regulatory developments have changed Ripple's situation?
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved Ripple National Trust Bank as a federal bank, enabling RLUSD to be listed on major exchanges and legitimizing on-chain repo markets for the stablecoin.
