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Brad Garlinghouse used his appearance at XRP Las Vegas to lay out Ripple’s priorities across regulation, market structure, and the company’s longer-term plans for XRP and the XRP Ledger. Speaking for about 22 minutes, he addressed Ripple’s commitment to XRP, the narrowing timeline for the Clarity Act, progress on an OCC trust charter, ambitions related to a Federal Reserve master account, Ripple’s IPO timing, and what he sees as both the strengths and limits of the XRP Ledger.
Garlinghouse pushed back on doubts about Ripple’s dedication to XRP, saying the company remains deeply invested in the asset’s success. He said Ripple is “still the largest holder of XRP on the planet,” and described itself as “the most interested party in seeing XRP be successful,” adding that it will “continue to be the most interested party.”
Garlinghouse framed the Clarity Act as the most urgent issue, arguing that the legislative window is shrinking. He said, “We were on the finish line three months ago in late January,” and suggested that Coinbase’s decision to pause negotiations created a vacuum in Washington that was filled by new objections, including housing policy concerns raised by a Republican senator without an obvious connection to crypto.
On timing, he stated: “If it doesn’t get out of committee by the end of the third week in May, I think we’re in real trouble. If it gets out of committee, we’re good, because it will pass the Senate if it gets out.”
He also argued that even if the Clarity Act does not pass, XRP already has legal clarity. “An independent federal judge was clear. XRP in and of itself is not a security. Boom. We have clarity. That’s what we care about.”
Garlinghouse confirmed Ripple received conditional approval for an OCC trust charter in December and said the conditions are within Ripple’s control to meet. He described Ripple’s approach as aiming to be “the most white hat around stablecoins as possible,” citing its institutional customer base.
On the Federal Reserve master account, Garlinghouse said it is “very much on our radar.” When asked whether it would be sufficient for Ripple’s ambitions, he declined to provide a direct answer, saying, “I’m going to dodge that question. I’m transparent that I’m dodging.”
Garlinghouse said Ripple is not pursuing an IPO on a fixed schedule. He pointed to recent crypto-related listings that have not performed well, including Gemini and GitGo, and noted that Kraken has delayed its own listing. “We’re just not in a big hurry to go down that path.”
He added that remaining private gives Ripple flexibility, including the ability to speak more freely on stage without legal constraints.
Garlinghouse described the XRP Ledger’s role in a broader multi-chain environment. “It is going to be a multi-chain world. The XRP Ledger is exceptionally good at some things and not good at some other things. And that’s okay.”
He highlighted bond settlement as an area he believes could be disrupted, characterizing the current process as “slow, arcane, and absurd to think about in the world of the internet.”
Garlinghouse criticized the politicization of technology, saying it is “just madness.” He compared it to the idea of treating email as partisan, arguing that it would make no sense to reject a technology based on political identity.
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