Garlinghouse says RLUSD complements XRP rather than competing

What happened

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on Nov. 3 addressed the debate over whether the company's RLUSD stablecoin could weaken XRP, saying the assets are complementary. U.Today reported that he replied on X to a post by XRP Ledger community member Vet, who contrasted the two tokens. Bitcoin.com News reported that Garlinghouse said RLUSD competes with other stablecoins rather than XRP, adding that use cases matter and that he wants those use cases running on the XRP Ledger.

In separate X replies, Garlinghouse discussed liquidity and the assets' different functions. One post he responded to argued that deeper liquidity on the XRP Ledger could make XRP easier to use over time and raised whether XRP would become a specialized institutional asset with restricted liquidity or achieve widespread use. The replies placed Ripple's stablecoin strategy alongside long-running questions about XRP adoption.

Garlinghouse also endorsed distinct roles. According to Bitcoin.com News, the post he replied to explained that XRP Ledger accounts need XRP reserves, while holders opt into RLUSD through a trust line, an account setting for accepting an issued token. XRP can be held without a trust line. RLUSD is a dollar-denominated stablecoin designed to stay near $1 through reserve backing and redemption, with Ripple citing payments, remittances and treasury flows as intended uses.

On the ledger, every RLUSD transfer is subject to XRP transaction fees, which consume a small amount of XRP that is destroyed. The fee varies by transaction type and network load and is separate from the value being transferred, so sending RLUSD does not require converting the payment amount into XRP. XRP can also route trades when going through it offers a better rate than a direct exchange, a role Evernorth chief business officer Sagar Shah described in May.

Why it matters

Some XRP holders worry that Ripple's stablecoin push could reduce demand for XRP in certain payment cases. U.Today framed the central question as whether a dollar-denominated stablecoin sent directly reduces the need for an intermediary such as XRP. Garlinghouse's comments try to cast RLUSD as expanding activity on the XRP Ledger rather than replacing its native asset. The ledger still uses XRP for reserves and fees and can use it for trade routing, while RLUSD offers dollar stability for payroll, invoicing and corporate payments.

Background

Garlinghouse has previously sought to reassure XRP supporters about Ripple's priorities. At Ripple's Swell 2026 conference in New York on Oct. 28, he addressed rumors that the company was focusing more on RLUSD than XRP and said Ripple would not abandon XRP, U.Today reported. He described a customer-focused approach in which Ripple would prioritize XRP where it suited customer needs and use fiat currencies or RLUSD for other transactions, preferring XRP to handle a small share of a customer's activity over none. BNY confirmed Oct. 27 that eligible clients could safeguard, hold and transfer XRP and RLUSD through its custody platform, building on its role as primary custodian of RLUSD reserves.

What to watch

U.Today noted that RLUSD is not exclusive to the XRP Ledger and also works on Ethereum and other supported blockchains, so rising demand for the stablecoin does not necessarily lead to more XRP Ledger use. The outlet also noted that more RLUSD transactions on the XRP Ledger would not by itself establish that increased XRP fee demand leads to a significant price move. Observers may watch whether RLUSD activity supports broader use of XRP's fee and routing roles.

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