Brad Garlinghouse says XRP army is “top of mind” for Ripple

Brad Garlinghouse said the company is doubling down on using XRP as a core part of its institutional payments push. The chief executive made the remarks late Monday on social platform X, responding to the community’s debate about the asset in the company’s direction.

“Glad to see the message is (finally, even more) clear! XRP family has and always will be top of mind for Ripple,” CEO Garlinghouse wrote, seemingly answering opponents who had questioned if the stablecoin issuer is concentrating on cross-border payments using RLUSD only. 

The statement follows up on Ripple’s DeFi outlook released last week by developers, which also stated that the token is at the center of on-chain settlements. In its announcement, the Ripple developer team described XRP as “the primary bridge asset for institutional liquidity,” with features intended to meet compliance, risk, and standards expected by banks and financial institutions.

XRP community celebrates as institutional rails take shape

According to Ripple’s outlook, XRP Ledger is launching several live components including multi-purpose token standards (MPTs) and permissioned domains that let verified participants access specific network functions.

Confidential transfer functions for MPTs, expected to debut on XRPL in the first quarter, could provide transaction-level privacy with controlled disclosure, a balance demanded by regulators and enterprises.

The developers explained that permissioned domains will be paired with credential systems and batch transaction capabilities for enterprise use, Cryptopolitan reported last week. The XRP Ledger is also planning to integrate identity and control features directly at the protocol level. The domains, coupled with credential checks, will help restrict XRPL’s access to approved entities. 

Moreover, Ripple noted that XRP could become the automated bridge currency for asset transfers, linking different tokens or currencies. While stablecoin corridors and remittance channels are contributing to on-chain volume, transaction fees, and account reserves denominated in XRP connect network usage to the token itself. 

One point of criticism of the XRP Ledger has been its limited compatibility with Ethereum-style smart contracts. Ripple argues that the lack of EVM programmability has restricted application growth, and it plans to address this with a new EVM-compatible sidechain linked through the Axelar network. 

The sidechain allows Solidity developers to use XRP Ledger liquidity and identity tools while working within Ethereum dev environments. “And some of you thought ripple wasn’t true to their word as XRP as bridge asset. The vision has not changed,” wrote the X account of influencer Mr.Man XRP.

Did SWIFT abandon a ready XRP network? 

The reaffirmation by CEO Garlinghouse comes against the backdrop of XRP supporters disappointment after SWIFT selected ConsenSys-built blockchain Linea as its onchain bank messaging system. The same pilot also incorporated stablecoins issued on Linea, sidelining expectations that Ripple’s network or its RLUSD stablecoin would be chosen.

SWIFT processes more than $150 trillion in wire transfers annually and is the dominant global financial messaging network. XRP investors had speculated that Ripple technology could replace or integrate with SWIFT infrastructure last year, following the ISO20022 standard adoption deadline in late November.

ISO 20022 provides structured financial data formats, which SWIFT uses to facilitate secure message exchange between institutions worldwide. Observers interpreted SWIFT’s choice as a setback for XRP supporters who believed their ledger might power mainstream bank messaging. 

“This cannot be true, not possible,” seasoned XRP investor Gary Cardone joked, “I have been told for years that XRP has Swift all tied up, locked down.”

Separate online discussions also made technical references linking XRP to established financial systems. According to social media posts highlighting code in both Ripple-related infrastructure and the platform of R3’s Corda network, modules labeled “XrpPayment,” “XrpSettlement,” “SWIFTService,” and “SWIFTPaymentStatusType” appeared. 

Meanwhile, XRP is trading at $1.42 at the time of this publication, down 0.9% over the last 24 hours. The fifth largest coin by market cap dropped to $1.38 over the weekend, but regained the $1.40 level during Monday’s Asian morning trading session.

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