Dubai-based luxury technology and customization company Goldgenie reported a 300% increase in cryptocurrency payment activity over the past six months, marking its strongest period since it began accepting digital assets in 2015. XRP is among the supported cryptocurrencies, alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT, used by customers for high-value purchases across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. The company attributed the rise to greater digital asset familiarity, wider stablecoin usage and improved merchant infrastructure.
The surge in real-world XRP usage coincides with a renewed discussion within the XRP Ledger community about how the token and stablecoins can coexist. XRPL dUNL validator and Foundation contributor Vet argued that XRP and stablecoins are complementary, not rivals. He described a “stablecoin sandwich” model where local currency swaps happen off-chain at the sender and receiver ends, meaning the swap does not need to touch XRPL’s decentralized exchange. Vet stressed that quality stablecoins are essential for building reliable payment routes, but as more issued currencies appear on-chain, a neutral bridge asset like XRP prevents liquidity fragmentation across too many trading pairs.
Researcher Eri had earlier noted Ripple’s use of Tether and USDC to support On-Demand Liquidity flows while maintaining XRPL liquidity importance. Eri also highlighted XRP’s potential roles beyond payments, such as collateral and DeFi. Vet countered that a native asset is better suited as a bridge than an issued asset that follows local regulations, keeping XRP’s neutral bridging role central to the ledger’s architecture.
Meanwhile, Ripple continues expanding its payment infrastructure. It recently invested in Flutterwave, with plans to integrate RLUSD stablecoin, Ripple Payments and XRP Ledger technology for cross-border rails in African markets. On the technical side, an XRPL Foundation automated market maker proposal aims to add StableSwap and concentrated liquidity, targeting reduced slippage for stablecoins, real-world assets and DeFi pricing. The Goldgenie report and community debate underscore that while stablecoins handle price-stable settlement, XRP remains essential where neutral cross-asset liquidity is needed.
