Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reiterated XRP as the company's central focus in an interview published Nov. 4, describing the asset as the company's "north star" and stating that Ripple's internal objective is to prioritize actions that benefit XRP.
Garlinghouse explained that Ripple USD (RLUSD), the company's dollar-pegged stablecoin, serves this core objective. The strategy is straightforward: increase payments flowing through the ecosystem, with the specific asset determined by payment corridor and currency pair. Approximately 50 percent of all RLUSD is currently issued on the XRP Ledger, according to Garlinghouse, who emphasized Ripple's goal to "drive as much liquidity, drive as much trust and utility through XRP as possible."
RLUSD is backed one-to-one by cash deposits, U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, offering a stable, dollar-pegged asset for customers settling dollar-denominated obligations. This contrasts with XRP, whose price is determined by market dynamics. Ripple's institutional stablecoin applications include payments, settlement and treasury flows—use cases where market volatility is a concern.
Garlinghouse positioned other stablecoins as RLUSD's primary competitors in comments on Nov. 3, expressing a clear preference for stablecoin activity to operate on the XRP Ledger itself, consolidating volume within Ripple's native blockchain environment.
This XRP-centered strategy extends from February, when Garlinghouse identified utility, trust and liquidity as critical priorities across Ripple's business lines—payments, prime brokerage, treasury, custody and RLUSD. Following $2.5 billion in acquisitions completed during 2025, Garlinghouse described 2026 as focused on integration. He highlighted growth in the treasury business and identified opportunities to transition traditional payment activity onto blockchain infrastructure.
In prime brokerage, roughly 20 percent of the business already operates digitally, according to Garlinghouse. Ripple aims to increase this share, pushing for greater digital asset adoption within institutional financial services.
In his five-year institutional outlook for XRP, shared in an Oct. 28 Swell video, Garlinghouse envisions the token evolving as foundational financial infrastructure for institutions. He advocates for XRP's use in customer transactions where it provides a suitable solution, seeking to secure even a small share of institutional activity.
Anodos Finance, an XRP develo also demonstrates ecosystem commitment to the asset. Anodos maintains XRP treasury holdings and utilizes XRP for team payments.
