Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Has Good And Bad News For XRP Community

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a latest interview revealed bullish and bearish news for the XRP community and the crypto market. Amid notable developments in the US SEC v Ripple case, Garlinghouse talked about stablecoin launch plans, favorable regulatory developments offshore US, and crypto bipartisanship.

Stablecoin Launch By Ripple Is Near Says CEO Brad Garlinghouse

In an interview with Bloomberg, Ripple chief executive officer (CEO) Brad Garlinghouse affirms there is a lot of good news for the company and crypto market this year.

The crypto payments firm plans to launch RLUSD stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Ripple CEO reiterated their plan to launch the stablecoin this year, expecting it’s just a matter of a few weeks as the company moves fast.

“We’ve always been kind of consistent. We’re going to do everything we can to launch this year. Everything Ripple does is in conjunction with regulatory approval and licensing. And so a key issue is that we will continue to make sure we are partnered with U.S. regulators before we go live with the stablecoin,” Garlinghouse added.

He sees the opportunity for launching stablecoin globally, certainly in Japan due to favorable regulations. But confirmed that they plan to start in the US only, just awaiting greenlight from regulators.

How RLUSD Is Different From XRP In Terms of Use Case?

Brad Garlinghouse said the company has always used XRP, the digital asset native to Ripple technologies, as a bridge asset for cross-border. However, the primary rationale for entering the stablecoins market is it will be worth 2-3 trillion in about five years, available corridors around the globe, and customers’ demand.

“Given Ripple’s place in the payments infrastructure, as well as a trusted brand partnering with financial institutions and regulators. We felt like there’s an opportunity to enter the stablecoin market as that market continues to grow.”

United States Is Behind Japan, the UK and Switzerland

Talking about regulations and clarity from regulators, Ripple CEO asserts United States is really behind Japan, the UK and Switzerland. He also claimed that regulatory clarity in Japan and enthusiasm in the government towards technology will always help bring more innovations to a country.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse talked about the successful relations with Japanese financial giant SBI Group since 2016. In addition, the partnerships for increasing adoption of XRP and XRP ledger in Japan.

In the most recent development in stablecoin in Japan, three biggest Japanese banks MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho plan to use a SWIFT-linked stablecoin system to facilitate cross-border payments. This is known as “Project Pax.”

Ripple CEO on Sad Reality in the US

While Brad Garlinghouse didn’t mention the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit, the company has been granted a stay order from the court. Ripple will hold 111% of $125 million in a bank account until disputes related to a potential SEC appeal are addressed.

He said the US has been hostile towards crypto. Biden administration has taken a negative view and it has impacted the crypto industry. The US SEC has sued many companies with the regulation through enforcement approach rather than doing what other countries’ regulators have done. Despite the sad reality, Garlinghouse remained optimistic adding that crypto will become a winner despite who wins the upcoming elections. He noted that the company had no plans on going public in the United States because of the regulatory stance of the SEC.

He clears that Ripple sees crypto and blockchain as bipartisan. Donald Trump and Regulators have leaned into being more pro-crypto, but he said one “shouldn’t care about a technology” depending on political parties. Recently, Ripple c0-founder Chris Larsen endorsing Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, shocked some in the crypto industry.