Ripple CEO Says XRP Remains the Company’s Top Priority
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said XRP remains the company’s “North Star”, despite recent attention on its RLUSD stablecoin. He said Ripple aims to pursue activities that benefit XRP, while acknowledging that fiat currencies or RLUSD may be more suitable for some transactions. In those cases, he argued, XRP capturing part of a transaction is preferable to capturing none.
Garlinghouse described XRP as foundational to Ripple’s expanding blockchain infrastructure business and said he hopes it will become an institutional standard for crypto rails over the next five years.
The comments came as Ripple announced institutional developments at its Swell event, including a strategic partnership with Robinhood, expanded support for XRP and RLUSD through BNY Mellon’s custody platform, and final regulatory approval for Ripple’s National Trust Bank.
XRP was trading near $1.30 at the time of the article, down about 2% in 24 hours, nearly 4% over seven days, and almost 13% over a month. It was also down roughly 50% year over year. The announcements could support the long-term case for XRP adoption, but the price figures show continued near-term weakness.
Neutral
The news has mixed implications for XRP, so its likely market impact is neutral. Garlinghouse’s reaffirmation that XRP remains central to Ripple’s strategy, alongside institutional developments involving Robinhood, BNY Mellon and Ripple’s National Trust Bank, may strengthen the long-term adoption narrative. Greater custody support and institutional settlement use could create additional avenues for XRP utility over time.
However, the announcements do not establish that XRP will be used in every Ripple product or transaction. Garlinghouse explicitly said fiat and RLUSD can be more suitable for some use cases. That limits the extent to which the news can be treated as direct, immediate demand for XRP. The reported price performance was also weak: XRP was down around 2% in 24 hours, nearly 13% over a month and roughly 50% year over year. This suggests broader market conditions and existing selling pressure may outweigh the positive corporate headlines in the short term.
Traders may initially respond to the institutional partnerships with sentiment-driven buying, but sustained gains would likely require evidence of actual XRP usage, transaction growth or improved market-wide conditions. Similar corporate adoption announcements in crypto have often produced brief price reactions that faded when they were not followed by measurable usage. Over the longer term, the developments could be constructive if they translate into greater XRP liquidity and real institutional demand. For now, the news is supportive of Ripple’s broader business but does not clearly change XRP’s near-term trading outlook.