XRP News: Ripple’s Multi-Asset Payments Strategy Predates Recent XRP Remarks

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said XRP could be the most suitable bridge asset for certain cross-border transactions, while stablecoins may offer a better solution for other customer requirements. Although the comments resurfaced this week, they were originally made on January 22.

Garlinghouse made the remarks during Faena Rose’s January 22 program, The Transformative Power of Crypto Assets, where he discussed cross-border payments and the development of digital financial infrastructure. Clips from the discussion reappeared on social media on September 24, more than eight months after the original event.

Garlinghouse’s comments were conditional rather than a ranking of digital assets. He said XRP is not necessarily the right choice for every payment scenario and rejected the idea that utility should revolve exclusively around XRP. According to his explanation, stablecoins may address certain customer requirements more effectively depending on the transaction. He also rejected the characterization of himself as an XRP maximalist, emphasizing utility as the key factor in determining which technology should be used.

That approach is consistent with the current structure of Ripple Payments. The platform supports settlement through RLUSD, USDC, USDT, or fiat currencies based on a business’s requirements and the jurisdictions where it operates. Ripple says its settlement infrastructure is separated from any individual token issuer, allowing additional stablecoins to be incorporated without requiring the underlying system to be rebuilt.

Ripple says its network supports collections, digital-asset conversions, and payouts across more than 60 markets, with total payment volume exceeding $100 billion.

XRP and RLUSD serve distinct functions rather than being interchangeable versions of the same product. XRP trades freely in the market without an issuer maintaining a fixed price. Ripple’s documentation describes XRP as the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger and a bridge asset intended to facilitate fast and low-cost cross-border transactions.

That functionality underpins Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity model. Under this structure, a source currency can be converted into XRP, transferred between markets, and then converted into the recipient currency, reducing the need for pre-funded nostro accounts.

RLUSD has a different purpose. Ripple describes the stablecoin as a dollar-backed asset designed for payments, remittances, treasury operations, and settlement. It is backed on a one-to-one basis by cash deposits, U.S. Treasuries, and cash equivalents and can be redeemed for U.S. dollars. Unlike XRP, whose market value fluctuates, RLUSD is structured to maintain a value of $1. That stability can make it more suitable for corporate treasurers handling predictable settlement volumes and seeking to avoid exposure to asset-price movements.

A similar trend is emerging across the wider financial industry, with stablecoins increasingly being incorporated into payment infrastructure across different networks.

Garlinghouse’s January comments also came before the Senate’s September 15 cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The measure failed by a 49-50 vote, falling short of the 60 votes required to advance H.R. 3633. Ripple described the result as a missed opportunity that same day and said it did not alter the company’s position on XRP’s regulatory status, pointing to the SEC and CFTC’s March 2026 interpretation identifying XRP as a digital commodity.

The regulatory developments are separate from the question of which asset should be used for payments, but they provide additional context for the resurfaced comments. In January, Garlinghouse was describing a payments strategy focused on meeting customer requirements through multiple settlement assets, rather than signaling a reduced commitment to XRP ahead of a legislative development that had not yet occurred.

For market participants, the key point is that Ripple’s existing product infrastructure already reflects a multi-asset payments strategy. Garlinghouse’s resurfaced comments therefore appear to reinforce an approach that had already been incorporated into Ripple’s payment infrastructure rather than represent a newly announced shift away from XRP.

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