Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says blockchain could unlock a $13 trillion payments opportunity — and XRP and stablecoins are well-positioned to capture a slice.
Speaking with FOX Business, Garlinghouse pointed to GTreasury — a treasury-management firm Ripple acquired last year — which processed roughly $13 trillion in payments. None of those transactions used stablecoins or crypto assets like XRP, he noted, arguing that as payment rails move on-chain there’s a clear opening to integrate crypto into institutional payments.
Why stablecoins matter
Garlinghouse framed stablecoins as a practical entry point for wider crypto adoption, dubbing the moment “the ChatGPT moment” for the industry. Industry data cited in the interview showed about $33 trillion in stablecoin trading globally last year, underscoring how much liquidity already sits in these instruments.
RLUSD and Ripple’s payments push
Ripple recently launched RLUSD after Garlinghouse said the company’s payment flows were accounting for up to 20% of USDC activity — prompting Ripple to build its own stablecoin to streamline operations. RLUSD has gained traction quickly, currently carrying a market cap of about $1.41 billion. Ripple also leans on the XRP Ledger for many of its payment services, with XRP functioning as the network’s bridge currency.
Regulatory clarity and adoption potential
Crypto analyst ChartNerd flagged the opportunity for XRP, noting that the U.S. enforcement picture has become clearer after court rulings — an environment that could encourage institutional adoption of crypto for payments. Garlinghouse reiterated in the interview that XRP remains Ripple’s “North Star,” signaling the company’s intent to further weave the token into its payments stack.
Bridging TradFi and crypto
On social platform X, Garlinghouse described a broader market shift: where crypto was once dismissed as “rat poison,” then deemed a “pet rock,” it’s now seen as a mechanism for “rewiring the financial system.” He said big corporates are increasingly asking whether they should be using stablecoins and assets like XRP.
To accelerate that transition, Ripple has been striking deals beyond the usual crypto echo chamber. The firm has purchased firms such as Hidden Road and GTreasury to help integrate XRP and RLUSD into traditional finance workflows.
Market snapshot
At the time of reporting, XRP was trading around $1.34, up over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bottom line: Ripple is betting that on-chain payments — powered by stablecoins and XRP — represent a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity as treasuries and corporates migrate payment rails to blockchain.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
