Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed in an interview with FOX Business that financial institutions, particularly banks, are increasing their engagement with Ripple and XRP following the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to finish its investigation into the corporate. The event marks a major turning point for Ripple and potentially the broader digital asset sector in the USA.
Ripple CEO: US Market Reawakens
Garlinghouse, reflecting on Ripple’s multi-year legal battle with the SEC, described the conclusion as an industry-wide win. “Ripple is de facto amongst the very first crypto firms to get sued by the SEC. We said then, when it began, that the SEC was going to be on the incorrect side of the law in addition to on the incorrect side of history. It took longer than we’d have liked… greater than $150 million of legal bills, but we’re thrilled with the final word end result. It allows us to essentially unlock the US market,” Garlinghouse stated.
Ripple, which has traditionally focused on cross-border payments, faced significant headwinds within the US market in the course of the regulatory uncertainty. In response to Garlinghouse, about 95% of Ripple’s current customer base consists of non-US financial institutions, including global giants like HSBC and BBVA. Nevertheless, the conclusion of the SEC investigation is now prompting a noticeable shift in domestic engagement.
“Within the six weeks after President Trump was elected, we signed more deals in the USA than we had within the previous six months. These are very revolutionary technologies. I believe they’re going to play out over 10, even 20 years by way of how they integrate and rewire the financial infrastructure of the USA. That’s across payments, that’s across even the settlement of perhaps real estate transactions, securities transactions. […] I believe persons are underestimating how big that change is,” Garlinghouse disclosed.
The increased interest follows two major executive orders signed by President Trump as a part of his pro-crypto agenda. These include initiatives geared toward “strengthening American leadership in digital financial technology” and establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and US digital asset stockpile”. Speaking on the Digital Asset Summit in Recent York City last week, President Trump told attendees, “You’ll unleash an explosion of economic growth, and with the dollar-backed stablecoins, you’ll help expand the dominance of the US dollar.”
Garlinghouse called the shift in sentiment a profound “unlock” for US financial institutions. He remarked, “Banks that were really hesitant and nervous about touching crypto technologies and even helping their customers, those banks and people financial institutions are leaning in now, and that’s an enormous deal—not only for Ripple, but for the entire industry.”
The conversation also turned toward the continued regulatory framework discussions in Washington. Garlinghouse praised the efforts of lawmakers reminiscent of Senator Cynthia Lummis and Congressman French Hill, who’re leading initiatives to make clear how digital assets are classified and controlled under US law. “It could actually’t just be executive orders. It must be codified with legislative efforts by Congress,” he stated, referencing progress on each a stablecoin bill and a market structure bill that would provide the clarity the industry has long sought.
Garlinghouse reiterated that XRP’s legal status has already received validation from the federal judiciary: “XRP was deemed to be a commodity or not a security by a federal judge, which is the other of what the SEC had said.” This ruling, coupled with pending laws, is predicted to strengthen Ripple’s position each domestically and internationally.
With trillions of dollars still flowing through outdated global payment systems like SWIFT, Garlinghouse sees the modernization opportunity as massive. “That’s a technology architecture developed 50 years ago. There’s a possibility to modernize that […] The US is finally unlocked, and I believe persons are underestimating how big that change is.”
As Ripple moves forward, the corporate anticipates that regulatory clarity will speed up the mixing of blockchain technologies into mainstream financial services, starting from payments to securities settlement. Garlinghouse concluded, “That can allow this innovation, allow more job creation, more innovation, and admittedly capital formation here in the USA.”
At press time, XRP traded at $2.4295.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
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