Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has issued a definitive statement reaffirming the company's long-term commitment to the XRP cryptocurrency and its community. In a post on social media platform X, Garlinghouse directly addressed ongoing speculation, stating, "The XRP family has and always will be top of mind for Ripple." He emphasized that XRP remains central to Ripple's strategic vision as the company expands into payments and tokenization.
Ripple's institutional DeFi roadmap positions XRP as a foundational asset for a new class of financial infrastructure. The company recently unveiled plans to transform the XRP Ledger (XRPL) into a robust platform for institutional decentralized finance (DeFi). This vision extends XRP's utility beyond cross-border payments into areas like foreign exchange (FX), collateral management, and liquidity optimization. Key features enabling this include Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPT), token escrow, and batch transactions, which allow for complex financial instruments with minimal reliance on smart contracts.
A major upcoming development is the Lending Protocol (XLS-66), which will introduce fixed-term, underwritten loans directly on the XRPL. This protocol will support Single Asset Vaults (SAVs) and liquidity pools, with XRP playing a central role in facilitating transactions and bridging assets. Furthermore, Ripple is enhancing privacy for institutional adoption through features like confidential transfers for MPTs and compliance tools such as permissioned domains and KYC/AML credentialing.
Ripple's financial stake in XRP underscores its commitment. The company holds over 40 billion XRP across various wallets, a significant long-term investment. This is reinforced by strategic initiatives like a joint $1 billion corporate treasury building effort with firms including Kraken. Ripple's integration of XRP into its core products, such as Ripple Prime for institutional services and liquidity operations, solidifies the token's pivotal role in the company's future.
