Why is XRP's institutional strategy back in the spotlight?

The discussion gained attention after Flare co-founder Hugo Philion argued that Ripple's focus on banks, payments and financial institutions has remained consistent despite years of criticism. He said many crypto firms are now pursuing similar partnerships with traditional finance companies.

What did Hugo Philion say about Ripple's business model?

Philion said Ripple's payments-focused strategy was largely correct from the beginning and that regulatory challenges created more problems than the business model itself. He argued the company has remained focused on improving global payments infrastructure.

Why was XRP once called a "banker coin"?

Critics used the term because Ripple worked closely with banks and financial institutions rather than positioning itself as an alternative to the traditional financial system. Some early crypto advocates viewed that approach as being too closely aligned with established finance.

Are crypto companies becoming more supportive of banks and institutions?

According to Philion, many crypto firms are now actively seeking partnerships with banks, payment providers and financial institutions. This represents a shift from earlier years when parts of the industry were more sceptical of traditional finance.

How does Ripple fit into Mastercard's new AI payments network?

Ripple is one of more than 30 organisations supporting Mastercard's Agent Pay for Machines initiative. The platform aims to enable autonomous software agents to conduct payments, settlements and machine-to-machine transactions.

Image for illustrative purposes only. Not a real photo.

Garlinghouse says Wall Street is embracing XRP vision

Q: What did Brad Garlinghouse say about Wall Street and XRP?

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse endorsed claims that Wall Street firms are increasingly adopting the institutional finance strategy that XRP and Ripple promoted years ago. He responded "True" to comments suggesting the crypto industry is now embracing ideas it once criticised.

Written by Isaac FrancisPublished Jun 11, 2026, 7:43 AM

Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse has endorsed claims that Wall Street firms and crypto companies are increasingly adopting the institutional finance strategy that XRP and Ripple promoted years ago.

The discussion emerged after Flare co-founder Hugo Philion argued in a recent interview that Ripple's long-standing focus on banks, payments and financial institutions was once heavily criticised but is now being replicated across the digital asset industry.

“True,”

Said Garlinghouse in response to comments on X suggesting that parts of the crypto sector had previously mocked XRP's institutional vision before moving towards similar business models.

Philion said Ripple's payments strategy has remained largely unchanged despite years of regulatory challenges and criticism, adding that many crypto firms are now actively pursuing partnerships with banks, payment providers and traditional financial institutions.

He also argued that XRP was frequently labelled a "banker coin" during its early years, but that the market has since shifted as institutional adoption and real-world financial use cases become a larger focus across the industry.

The renewed attention comes as Ripple participates in Mastercard's Agent Pay for Machines initiative, an AI-powered payments network that includes support from companies such as Coinbase, the Solana Foundation, Stripe, Adyen, Cloudflare and OKX.

Ripple said fast settlement infrastructure remains a key component of autonomous payment systems, reinforcing its long-standing emphasis on improving payment efficiency through blockchain technology.

Meanwhile, the XRP Ledger Foundation is preparing to release version 3.2.0 on June 15, which will include a rebranding of the network's core server software from "rippled" to "xrpld" as part of efforts to reflect the broader open-source ecosystem surrounding the XRP Ledger.

At the time of reporting, XRP price was $1.11.