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XRP held near $1.42 as Bitcoin rebounded to $81,000, while Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse rejected crypto tribalism during Consensus Miami 2026. NS3.AI linked the market trend to Bitcoin ETF and ETP inflows, the Federal Reserve’s unchanged interest rates, and uncertainty around the CLARITY Act. At the same time, Ripple-backed Evernorth appointed Ripple’s top lawyer to its board and moved ahead with its Nasdaq listing plan.
Garlinghouse said he has never viewed XRP as the only important crypto asset in the market. Instead, he said the industry will operate across several blockchains. ‘I’ve never been an XRP maxi. It’s not gonna be a one-chain world. It’s gonna be a multi-chain world. I want to see Bitcoin be successful, he said.
He also said crypto tribalism harms the entire industry. An XRP maximalist usually sees XRP as the only important crypto and treats other assets as competitors. Garlinghouse had shared a similar position in January 2025. He posted on X that maximalism is ‘the enemy of crypto progress.’
At that time, he said he owned XRP, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. He also said he supported a level playing field across the crypto market. Still, Garlinghouse made clear that XRP remains Ripple’s ‘North Star.’ He said Ripple’s acquisitions and products aim to make XRP more useful for users.
Ripple’s survey of more than 1,000 finance leaders showed strong interest in digital asset services. According to the survey, 72% said companies must offer digital asset solutions to stay competitive. The survey also found that 74% of respondents see stablecoins as a future treasury tool. They said companies can use them to manage money more efficiently.
Security ranked as the top concern. The survey showed that 97% of finance leaders placed digital asset security above every other feature.
Certifications such as ISO and SOC also ranked high among respondents. Meanwhile, 88% placed post-integration technical support second. Industry experience ranked third at 80%, while 71% preferred an all-in-one service provider. These findings point to the demand for trusted partners in digital asset adoption.
The survey also covered fintech payment trends. It found that 31% of fintechs collect stablecoin payments for customers, while 29% accept stablecoin payments directly. In contrast, 47% of fintech companies prefer to build in-house digital asset solutions. Only 14% of large corporations chose that route, as many prefer established partners.
Garlinghouse also discussed Ripple’s use of artificial intelligence. He said Ripple uses AI to grow and hire, not to reduce staff. He said AI writes or assists with 75% of Ripple’s code. As a result, the company uses those gains to build more products and reach more users.
‘Painting AI as the boogeyman is a travesty. We’re not thinking about AI as a tool to reduce headcount. We’re thinking about it as an unlock,’ he said. That position differs from other companies cited in the report. Coinbase cut 14% of its workforce in early 2026, citing AI changes and weak market conditions.
Klarna froze hiring in 2025 after saying its AI system could handle 700 customer service roles. Atlassian also cut 1,600 jobs in March 2026.
Garlinghouse also pointed to the CLARITY Act as a key issue for the crypto industry. The bill seeks clearer rules for crypto tokens. The SEC and CFTC still differ on whether some crypto tokens qualify as securities or commodities. The CLARITY Act would define those roles more clearly.
According to Congress.gov, the bill would keep investment-style tokens under the SEC. It would also give the CFTC control over spot markets for digital commodities. For companies such as Ripple, that structure could make compliance easier. It would also help firms know which rules apply to specific assets.
The bill passed the House in July 2025 by a 294-134 vote. Since then, the Senate has moved more slowly. A major delay centers on stablecoin rewards. Banks oppose crypto firms offering rewards for holding stablecoins because those products could compete with deposits.
Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks released a compromise on May 1, 2026. It bans stablecoin yield on deposits but allows rewards tied to platform activity. Garlinghouse said the bill is not perfect. Still, he said clarity is better than chaos and warned that the next two weeks matter.
Read More: XRP’s Price Struggles to Break Resistance Amid Rising Geopolitical Risks
‘Do I think it’s perfect? Hell no! But clarity is better than chaos. If it doesn’t happen in the next two weeks, I think the likelihood is going to drop precipitously.’
Meanwhile, Evernorth has brought fresh attention to XRP. The Ripple-backed company said on May 5, 2026, that it holds more than 473 million XRP.
Evernorth also appointed four board members, including Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty. Ripple and SBI Holdings backed the company.
The company plans to go public on Nasdaq through a merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II. The filing remains under SEC review. Evernorth aims to give investors XRP exposure through public shares. That model resembles Strategy’s Bitcoin-focused approach, but Evernorth centers its plan on XRP.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse rejected XRP maximalism while backing a multi-chain crypto future and Bitcoin’s success. XRP held near $1.42 as Evernorth’s Nasdaq plan, Ripple’s digital asset survey, AI strategy, and CLARITY Act uncertainty kept market attention on XRP.
