Ripple’s Strategic Path to US Crypto Dominance
In a groundbreaking address at DC Fintech 2025, Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, unveiled the company’s ambitious post-litigation strategy, emphasizing an aggressive expansion approach. He noted a favorable shift in US policy from significant obstacles to promising opportunities, bringing the industry closer to regulatory clarity than ever before.
Ripple’s Vision for Leadership in US Cryptocurrency
Brad Garlinghouse confidently declared, “We’re going to keep playing offense,” outlining Ripple’s immediate goals in payments, custody, and stablecoins. The company’s aggressive acquisition strategy now includes the $1.25 billion purchase of prime broker Hidden Road and a $200 million acquisition of enterprise stablecoin provider Rail. Garlinghouse hinted at more upcoming announcements, stating, “We believe the time to invest is now.”
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This optimism stems from a perceived political shift in Washington following Ripple’s legal victory. He described Ripple as a pivotal player in the Biden administration’s crypto challenge through the SEC, elevating the company’s status and energizing industry engagement on Capitol Hill. He highlighted the bipartisan support for the Clarity Act, which passed the House with the backing of 78 Democrats, reflecting a growing desire to embrace these technologies. While cautious about the Senate’s stance, he emphasized the bipartisan and tech-driven nature of the momentum: “This topic should never have been partisan. It’s like saying one side supports email, and the other opposes it.”
Ripple’s Critique of SEC Policies
Garlinghouse directed his sharpest criticism at the SEC’s previous stance under Chair Gary Gensler, characterizing it as detrimental to both innovation and consumer protection. Quoting a federal judge in Ripple’s case, he stated, “A federal judge remarked on the Gensler SEC, ‘they are not following a faithful allegiance to the law.’ That’s a damning assessment from a judge appointed by Obama.”
Garlinghouse added, “I don’t think we’ll return to that era. It was a dark period for US technology,” arguing that regulation-by-enforcement drove activity offshore, where ironically, it was less regulated and offered fewer consumer protections.
Clarifying Misconceptions: Ripple vs. XRP
Garlinghouse frequently highlighted the distinction between Ripple, a private entity that “raised venture capital and issued stock,” and XRP, “an open source technology integral to our products.” Addressing persistent misconceptions, he remarked, “People claim XRP has a CEO. I ask, who is it? Ripple has a CEO—that’s me. There are numerous CEOs building around the XRP ecosystem.”
He emphasized that Ripple does not control the XRP Ledger’s rules: “Amendments to the XRP open source technology that we opposed have passed. That’s open source technology,” noting that ledger amendments require 80% community approval.
Ripple’s Pursuit of a Federal Reserve Master Account
On banking access, Garlinghouse urged regulators and traditional financial institutions to align compliance expectations with equal access to core infrastructure. “Hold traditional finance accountable,” he stated. “The crypto industry should meet the same AML, KYC, and OFAC standards. And we should have the same access to infrastructure like a Fed master account. It’s disingenuous to demand one and oppose the other.”
He confirmed Ripple’s application for a national bank charter and argued that granting master accounts to firms like Circle and Ripple would “de-risk stablecoins,” provided they adhere to bank-level regulatory standards. He also noted that Ripple launched its stablecoin under a New York trust license, calling it “the gold standard” for the institutional clientele the company targets.
The practical challenge for cautious banks, he suggested, is the lack of fully codified law, even as agency positions evolve. He mentioned recent bank-side engagement “around stablecoins for sure” and credited the Genius Act for assistance, while acknowledging some institutions remain cautious of policy changes in future election cycles.
Nonetheless, he argued that time is on crypto’s side, and codification, when it occurs, will accelerate participation. “The more time that passes, the better it is for the industry,” he said, adding that Ripple’s court clarity has already spurred development “in and around the XRP ecosystem.”
Garlinghouse framed the broader policy debate as a competition for fintech leadership. “The US embraced the Internet in the late ’90s. We’ve shied away from blockchain. That doesn’t make sense to me,” he said, noting entrepreneurs are already gravitating towards jurisdictions with clear rules like Europe’s MiCA or the UK’s regime.
He urged Congress to abandon “regulation through enforcement” in favor of predictable frameworks to protect consumers and guide companies: “Most entrepreneurs I know in crypto want to play by the rules.”
He also recounted the practical consequences of the previous policy climate, stating it was once “very difficult” for major banks to engage and that he himself had been “debanked by Citibank in recent years.” The result, he argued, was a frozen US market while international clients moved forward, illustrated by a striking statistic: “80% of Ripple’s hiring between 2001 and 2004 was outside the US because that’s where our customers were.”
Today, he believes the “ship has sailed” on crypto’s permanence in the US financial system. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” he asserted. “This wave is still advancing. And I don’t think the US federal government will stop it.”
At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $2.42.
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