Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the company will never give up on XRP. At Swell 2026 in New York, he pushed back on rumors that Ripple now favors its RLUSD stablecoin.
Ripple CEO Rejects RLUSD Pivot Rumors
Garlinghouse took on the speculation directly in his remarks. Some market watchers had claimed Ripple gave up on XRP and was “leaning into RLUSD,” he said.
“We will never give up on XRP,” the Ripple CEO told the audience. He added that “the momentum you’re seeing around XRP is profound.”
XRP’s price is still up over the past three months after a late-August rally, though it has cooled since late September.
Instead of treating the stablecoin as a rival, Garlinghouse framed it as part of XRP’s momentum. “RLUSD is one contributor to that… we view them as very complementary,” he explained.
The Ripple chief also stressed that the company “will never do something we think is bad for the XRP ecosystem.”
The comments land as Ripple reports a banner year. According to a company statement, the firm is on track to exit 2026 with $900 million in annualized product revenue. The Ripple CEO called it the company’s best year ever on X:
RLUSD plays a growing role in that push. The stablecoin now carries a market cap of $2.6 billion, up more than 88% this year, Ripple says. It already hit a record high in January as Ripple courted institutions.
In addition, Ripple secured final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for Ripple National Trust Bank. The new bank charter has raised questions about who benefits most from Ripple’s growth.
Bessent and Schwartz Add to the Swell Buzz
Ripple’s 10th annual Swell, which for the first time includes the XRPL Apex developer summit, also drew US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He appeared alongside Garlinghouse at The Shed in Manhattan.
Bessent has previously predicted that the USD stablecoin market could top $2 trillion by 2028.
Ripple’s longtime technologist joined the hype as well. David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus and a board member, posted on X during conference week:
The Ripple CEO has backed the token in public several times this year, including at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas. For XRP holders, the Swell remarks are the clearest answer yet from the Ripple CEO to the pivot rumors.
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