Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded with a simple “True” to Flare co-founder Hugo Philion’s remark that the crypto industry is now aggressively pursuing the same “banker coin” model that XRP was once criticized for embodying.

Philion pointed out that when Ripple and XRP first emerged, they were widely dismissed for being too closely aligned with traditional banking. Today, however, he argues that much of the industry is actively building products and infrastructure designed to integrate with banks and institutional finance.

Garlinghouse’s agreement—alongside reports that Ripple has allocated billions of dollars in XRP holdings toward institutional use cases—adds weight to the idea that the market is now converging on a vision that was previously controversial rather than new.

An X post captured the sentiment in blunt terms: “They mocked the vision. Now they’re copying it.” Once-fringe themes like tokenized real-world assets, bank-linked infrastructure, and institutional liquidity systems have now become central narratives across the crypto sector.

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Garlinghouse, Ripple, and XRP Price

XRP is currently trading just above the key psychological level of $1.00, consolidating in a narrow range often interpreted as bullish compression in technical analysis. This area has historically acted as an important support zone, repeatedly absorbing selling pressure across market cycles.

Trading activity remains relatively elevated compared to baseline levels, indicating sustained interest rather than weakening momentum. On-chain signals also suggest that the $1.00 level is not purely psychological, but backed by meaningful transactional activity.

In the short term, the $1.20 region is being watched as the next potential breakout threshold that could confirm renewed upward momentum.

At the same time, the broader “banker coin” narrative has become increasingly mainstream. As a result, much of the early speculative upside tied to skepticism around XRP’s original positioning appears to have already been priced in.

Whether XRP can eventually retest or surpass its previous all-time high remains open, depending largely on macro conditions and the pace of institutional adoption.