Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared optimistic news with the XRP community, highlighting a new era for XRP, the XRP Ledger, and RLUSD as institutional interest grows and regulators push for crypto-friendly rules.
Garlinghouse Opens Swell with Treasury Secretary
In a post on X, Garlinghouse said the company is “kicking off 10 years of Ripple Swell with a bang!” He described the moment as the start of a new era for XRP and Ripple.
“It was an honor to open up our conference with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. His leadership, alongside the current administration, has been instrumental in ensuring that responsible crypto can thrive in the US,” Garlinghouse said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US Treasury could work with the SEC and CFTC to advance crypto regulations despite the CLARITY Act’s failure. “We are going to win in the digital asset stack,” Bessent told the Ripple Swell conference.
OCC Grants Final Approval for Ripple National Trust Bank
In major regulatory news, the OCC granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The full banking charter enables support for RLUSD reserves and provides institutional digital asset custody services.
“We’ve always said crypto and banks work better together – this is what that looks like. Real innovation, real accountability, federal oversight,” Garlinghouse added.
Partnerships with Robinhood and BNY
Garlinghouse highlighted major efforts to bring crypto assets to institutions, including new partnerships with Robinhood and BNY.
Ripple is bringing its infrastructure to Robinhood to support both customer-facing services and core financial operations. This includes RLUSD settlement on the XRP Ledger, prime brokerage, and treasury operations. RLUSD is already live on Robinhood Chain and Bitstamp by Robinhood. Robinhood plans to use RLUSD on the XRPL for institutional settlement.
Ripple is also expanding its partnership with BNY across custody and tokenized trade finance involving RLUSD, XRP, and the XRP Ledger. As institutional use cases rise, BNY intends to broaden its support for tokenized assets and investment products issued on the XRPL.
Moody’s Assigns RLUSD Investment-Grade Ratings
Moody’s Ratings has assigned RLUSD an A2 long-term rating and P-1 short-term rating, the highest possible short-term rating under its new stablecoin framework. According to Jack McDonald, RLUSD is the first stablecoin to have ever received an investment-grade rating.
XRP Price and Market Reaction
XRP price jumped toward $1.35 as executives from crypto and traditional finance, including Garlinghouse, prepared to speak at Ripple Swell. The event focuses on topics including agentic finance, tradFi adoption, tokenization, cross-border payments, DeFi, and XRP Ledger utility.
Actor Matt Damon is also set to speak at Ripple Swell. He will share how his organization is using Ripple Payments and the RLUSD stablecoin to speed up cross-border payments for clean water projects.
XRP price has been mostly range-bound for days despite positive news, trading at $1.33. Trading volume increased nearly 20% in the last 24 hours, indicating buy-the-dip sentiment among traders.
Crypto analyst Ali Martinez noted that XRP price is rebounding, but $1.25 remains the key level. On the daily chart, XRP is forming an inverse head-and-shoulders bottom, with its potential right shoulder near that support. If $1.25 holds, XRP price could move toward the neckline at $1.55. A daily close above it could signal a breakout toward $2.10.
