Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has made an unusually direct admission about XRP: it is not automatically the best asset for every payment use case.
He also says he personally owns Solana, rejects the idea that investors need to choose between SOL and XRP, and describes himself as bullish on multiple major cryptocurrencies for different reasons.
The remarks resurfaced this week from Garlinghouse’s Jan. 22 appearance at Faena Rose. In the original “Transformative Power of Crypto Assets” discussion, he argued that XRP could be the best bridge asset for a particular cross-border transaction while a stablecoin could solve another customer’s problem more effectively.
Garlinghouse Is Not Treating Solana as an XRP Rival
Garlinghouse also pushed back against the idea that Solana and XRP have to compete for a single winner.
He said he owns SOL himself and does not subscribe to XRP maximalism, arguing instead that several of the largest crypto assets could perform well over the next five years.
That view is consistent with Ripple’s broader multichain strategy. XRP itself has already expanded into the Solana ecosystem through wrapped XRP, a development Coinpaper previously covered when wXRP launched on Solana.
The result is a more complicated competitive picture than “XRP versus Solana.” Ripple can benefit from XRP liquidity expanding onto Solana even while the two networks support different applications.
Stablecoins Are the Bigger Challenge to XRP Payments
Garlinghouse’s comments about stablecoins may be more important than his SOL holdings.
Ripple Payments already supports settlement through multiple assets, while Ripple’s own RLUSD stablecoin has grown rapidly. Coinpaper recently examined how XRP and RLUSD solve different payment problems: XRP can act as a bridge asset for moving value, while RLUSD provides predictable dollar-denominated pricing.
That is close to the distinction Garlinghouse is now making publicly.
XRP’s Role Gets Narrower, but Potentially Clearer
The obvious bearish interpretation is that Ripple’s own CEO is admitting XRP will not capture every payment flow.
But the alternative interpretation is more useful: XRP does not need to replace every stablecoin, fiat currency or blockchain to have utility.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz has made a similar argument, explaining why some institutions may still prefer XRP over stablecoins when they need neutral bridge liquidity rather than exposure to a particular dollar issuer.