Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said XRP could be used as a bridge asset for certain cross-border payments, while stablecoins may provide a more suitable option for other customer needs. The comments gained renewed attention this week but were originally made on January 22.

Garlinghouse discussed the issue during Faena Rose’s January 22 program, The Transformative Power of Crypto Assets, which covered cross-border payments and digital financial infrastructure. Clips from the discussion resurfaced on social media on September 24, more than eight months after the original interview.

Rather than presenting XRP as the preferred asset for all payment transactions, Garlinghouse described asset selection as dependent on the specific use case. He said XRP may not be the optimal choice for every transaction and dismissed the idea that payment utility should be centered solely on XRP. In some cases, he said, stablecoins can address customer requirements more effectively. Garlinghouse also rejected the label of an XRP maximalist, emphasizing that practical utility should determine which technology is used.

Ripple’s existing payment infrastructure follows a similar multi-asset approach. Ripple Payments supports settlement through RLUSD, USDC, USDT, and fiat currencies, with the available option depending on a customer’s requirements and the jurisdictions involved. Ripple says its settlement infrastructure is separate from any particular token issuer, allowing new stablecoins to be integrated without rebuilding the underlying system.

Ripple says its payment network currently supports collections, digital-asset conversions, and payouts in more than 60 markets. The company also reports that the network has processed more than $100 billion in payment volume.

XRP and RLUSD serve different purposes within this model. XRP is a freely traded cryptocurrency whose price is determined by market activity. Ripple describes it as the native asset of the XRP Ledger and a bridge asset designed to support fast and low-cost cross-border transactions.

This functionality is used in Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity system. A source currency can be converted into XRP, transferred between markets, and then converted into the destination currency. This model can reduce the need for institutions to maintain pre-funded nostro accounts.

RLUSD is designed around a different use case. Ripple describes the stablecoin as a dollar-backed digital asset intended for payments, remittances, treasury operations, and settlement. Its reserves include cash deposits, U.S. Treasuries, and cash equivalents, with the asset backed 1:1 and redeemable for U.S. dollars.

The primary difference between the two assets is price exposure. XRP’s market value fluctuates, while RLUSD is designed to maintain a value of approximately $1. This structure may be more appropriate for businesses managing predictable settlement flows that want to avoid exposure to cryptocurrency price volatility.

Ripple’s approach also reflects a wider shift in the payments sector, where stablecoins are increasingly being incorporated into payment and settlement infrastructure across different networks.

Garlinghouse made the January comments before the Senate’s September 15 cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The legislation failed to advance after a 49-50 vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move H.R. 3633 forward. Ripple described the result as a missed opportunity and maintained that its position on XRP’s regulatory classification was unchanged, citing the SEC and CFTC’s March 2026 interpretation identifying XRP as a digital commodity.

The legislative development is separate from Ripple’s approach to selecting settlement assets, but it adds context to the resurfaced comments. When Garlinghouse spoke in January, he was outlining a payments strategy based on using different assets for different customer requirements. The comments therefore were not made in response to the later Senate vote or as an indication that Ripple was moving away from XRP.

For market participants, the resurfaced footage highlights that Ripple’s multi-asset strategy was already reflected in its payment infrastructure. Garlinghouse’s comments provide further explanation of how the company views XRP and stablecoins as serving different roles within the same broader p