“XRP Is Ripple’s North Star,” Brad Garlinghouse Says as Company Eyes Trillion-Dollar Status ⋆ ZyCrypto

Brad Garlinghouse has stressed that XRP is Ripple’s “North Star” and the “reason” for the company’s existence. Garlinghouse also said he believes the cryptocurrency industry will produce a trillion-dollar company, adding that Ripple is positioned to be among the contenders.

Brad Garlinghouse Reaffirms Ripple’s Commitment To XRP

“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 velocity, or liquidity around XRP and the XRP Ledger,” Garlinghouse said on Wednesday while speaking to a group of XRP fans on the XRP Community Day via X.

XRP, the payments-focused token largely associated with Ripple, is currently the fourth-largest crypto with an $84 billion market capitalization. The coin is changing hands at $1.38 as of publication time, down 62% since making its all-time high of $3.65 in July 2025, CoinGecko data shows.

“Ripple’s reason for existence is driving success around XRP and the XRP ecosystem,” Garlinghouse added. “We will continue to build products and services that customers love and will pay for to make Ripple successful, but it’s in service of the overall XRP ecosystem.”

Ripple’s Push Toward $1 Trillion Valuation

Garlinghouse said he believes a cryptocurrency firm will ultimately surpass a $1 trillion valuation — a milestone reached by only a small group of global giants, including Nvidia, Apple, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

“There will be a trillion-dollar crypto company, I don’t doubt that for a second,” Garlinghouse opined. “I think Ripple has the opportunity, if we do things well in partnership with the overall XRP ecosystem, to be that company.”

In November, the company secured $500 million in funding from major financial players, including Citadel Securities and Fortress Investment Group, resulting in a valuation of approximately $40 billion. To reach the $1 trillion threshold, the firm’s valuation would need to increase roughly 25-fold.

Ripple significantly expanded its footprint last year, deploying billions of dollars on acquisitions aimed at strengthening its product suite. The deals included the $1.25 billion purchase of prime brokerage Hidden Road and the $1 billion acquisition of treasury management firm GTreasury. Ripple also invested $200 million in stablecoin company Rail and acquired wallet-as-a-service provider Palisade for an undisclosed sum.

Looking ahead, Garlinghouse said Ripple’s focus this year will shift toward integration rather than further dealmaking. He indicated that investors should not anticipate any major acquisitions, while noting the company could become more active on that front in the second half of the year.

“Zoom Out”

Garlinghouse, who has been at Ripple since 2015, also acknowledged the severity of last week’s market turbulence. He characterized the broader market environment as “frustrating.”

Still, he called on listeners to step back from the market’s recent turmoil, which has seen XRP and top crypto Bitcoin tumble 33% and 27% over the last month, respectively.

“We’ve got a long way to go, and I certainly don’t want to gloss over that,” observed Garlinghouse of crypto’s growth since he joined Ripple. “But these are massive markets, and the opportunity to rewire, accelerate, and make the financial infrastructure more efficient is truly profound.”