XRP Is Ripple’s North Star, Garlinghouse Says

During a recent appearance on X’s “Spaces,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stressed that XRP is the “North Star” for Ripple.

“It’s our purpose. When we think about what we are doing on Ripple Payments, or Ripple Prime, or Ripple Treasury, or Custody, or RLUSD, this is all focused on how we can drive utility, trust, and…liquidity around XRP and the XRP Ledger,” Garlinghouse said. 

XRP is the “heartbeat” of Ripple, which is a platform company for financial infrastructure.  

“Zoom out” 

Garlinghouse has acknowledged that last week was an absolute “bloodbath” for the market. He has described the current state of the market as “frustrating.” However, as reported by U.Today, Garlinghouse recently suggested that there could be a buying opportunity. 

“Whenever I see people being exceptionally fearful, I feel greedy,” he said during the appearance on Spaces.  

The drawdown is comparable to the 2022 bear cycle, but crypto has done better than that, Garlinghouse says. Moreover, as he noted, XRP is one of the best-performing major cryptocurrencies since November 2024. Bitcoin, for comparison, is essentially flat. 

“It is important to zoom out and look at the broader landscape as well,” he said.

Going on offense 

After years of playing defense due to regulatory woes, Ripple finally went on offense with aggressive acquisitions, Garlinghouse says. “That has felt great…We’ve lost some time, which is frustrating, but we gonna work hard in 2026 to make up that time,” he noted. 

Garlinghouse has stressed that the company was very focused on going outside the echo chamber by bringing traditional finance and crypto with its acquisition spree.