Crypto in the United States: Brad Garlinghouse (Ripple) remains optimistic

Unwavering optimism. Brad Garlinghouse reiterates without hesitation: he still believes in the future of cryptocurrencies in the United States. The CEO of Ripple was already expressing this sentiment when the SEC was demanding nearly $2 billion from his company and his lawyers were camped out in a Manhattan courtroom.

Five years later, his teams are filing banking license applications in Washington instead of defense motions. In between, there has been case law, a stablecoin, four acquisitions, and a valuation in the eleven figures.

Key Points

• Brad Garlinghouse claims to have lost none of his optimism regarding American crypto.
• The SEC lawsuit resulted in a $125 million fine, far from the nearly $2 billion demanded.
• Ripple has spent over $4 billion on acquisitions: Hidden Road, GTreasury, Rail, Palisade.
• Two regulatory filings submitted in Washington: a federal banking license and direct access to the Fed.

Ripple: Brad Garlinghouse's optimism forged in the face of the SEC

Brad Garlinghouse published his reaction on X on September 15, 2026, just hours after the failure of the Clarity Act in the U.S. Senate: the closure motion received only 49 votes out of the 60 needed to pave the way for a final vote. This setback is nothing new in the leader's discourse. In December 2020, the SEC was already attacking Ripple for an alleged sale of unregistered securities involving $1.3 billion of XRP. Garlinghouse had spent several months denouncing regulation by enforcement and raised the possibility of relocating the headquarters to London, Dubai, or Singapore.

<< There are still reasons to be optimistic for crypto in the United States. The SEC, chaired by Paul Atkins, and the CFTC, chaired by Michael Selig, will continue to work to fill this legislative gap through regulation, and we will remain fully engaged in this process. >> Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, on X, September 15, 2026

Judge Analisa Torres split the difference in July 2023. XRP sales on exchanges were not considered securities offerings, but those to institutional investors were. The final tally came to $125 million, about 6% of what the U.S. securities regulator was demanding. Both sides then withdrew their appeals and closed the case.

This decision provided XRP with a rare commodity in the altcoin universe: a binding U.S. judicial precedent. Thus, asset managers rushed in. A first wave of spot XRP ETFs arrived on Wall Street as early as fall 2025, with Canary Capital leading the way, followed by Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale.

Crypto and Ripple: Investing where one once pleaded

The checkbook followed the judicial crisis exit. Ripple spent $1.25 billion on the institutional broker Hidden Road. The spending continued with $1 billion for treasury software provider GTreasury, $200 million for the stablecoin payment startup Rail, and Palisade, the custody specialist, as a bonus. In total, these four operations exceeded $2.4 billion in seven months. They bring Ripple's total buybacks since 2023 to nearly $4 billion. All of this is backed by a $500 million funding round completed at a $40 billion valuation.

The in-house stablecoin RLUSD surpassed $1 billion in circulation less than a year after its launch. It operates under a charter from the NYDFS, the financial regulator of the State of New York. The company has also filed for a national banking charter with the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), the federal bank supervisor. It also aims for a master account at the Federal Reserve through its subsidiary Standard Custody.

The legislative framework has become clearer in the same movement. The GENIUS Act, enacted in the summer of 2025, requires payment stablecoin issuers to maintain a full reserve in liquid assets. It also adds regular audits and clearly identified federal or state supervision. The next project, the market structure and the division of responsibilities between the SEC and CFTC, has occupied the Senate since then. The legal qualification of dozens of digital assets, including XRP, is at stake.

Brad Garlinghouse's optimism is now quantified in filed applications: nearly $4 billion in buybacks since 2023, and two licensing requests submitted to federal institutions. An office that almost no crypto player dared to approach five years ago.

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