.png){kind=logo}
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has pointed to a large opening for stablecoins in corporate payments, saying Ripple’s treasury platform processed $13 trillion in payment flows last year while “zero percent” moved through crypto or stablecoins.
His remarks have added to the debate over how banks, large companies, and regulators may shape the next stage of digital payments. At the same time, critics have questioned whether retail users will benefit as much as institutions if stablecoin adoption grows under tighter rules.
Garlinghouse said Ripple’s treasury-related payment flows reached $13 trillion over the past year. However, “zero percent” of that volume used crypto or stablecoins. He presented that gap as a clear opening for future growth.
He said corporate finance teams are now moving from interest to action. Many are no longer asking whether stablecoins matter. Instead, they are asking how to use them in daily operations.
According to Garlinghouse, chief financial officers may soon use dashboards with two choices. One route would use traditional payment rails. The other would use blockchain-based settlement. He described that side-by-side choice as “the unlock.”
Garlinghouse also referred to estimates that stablecoins processed $33 trillion in volume last year. He repeated the view that this may be crypto’s “ChatGPT moment.” In his framing, stablecoins are becoming tools for payments and treasury use.
Crypto commentator Wendy O challenged that narrative from a retail angle. She argued that the current regulatory path may favor banks and large firms. In her view, retail users may gain far less.
Her criticism focused on access to yield from stablecoins. She said the rules being discussed appear to avoid “retail yield on stable coins.” That would leave many benefits with institutions instead of individual holders.
Wendy O also said Ripple’s push for legal clarity may strengthen its enterprise business. However, she argued that retail XRP holders have no clear promise of similar upside. She said retail support helped Ripple build its position over time.
She also described Ripple as a “bankers’ coin” with an institutional focus. At the same time, she noted that this strategy is valid on its own terms. Her main point was that retail users should not be ignored.
Ripple’s stablecoin strategy has also drawn attention through recent RLUSD activity. In the last 24 hours, 9 million RLUSD were minted on XRP Ledger. The mint occurred in two transactions: 4 million and 5 million tokens.
During the same period, 10,000,002 RLUSD was burned on Ethereum. That pattern may point to a rebalancing of supply across networks. March has also seen several RLUSD mint-and-burn events.
Ripple’s stablecoin now has a total supply of about 1.41 billion RLUSD. A larger share of that supply remains on Ethereum. Ripple has tied RLUSD more closely to enterprise settlement use cases.
The company is also piloting RLUSD in Singapore’s MAS BLOOM sandbox. The goal is to automate parts of cross-border trade payments. Ripple is working with supply chain finance firm Unloq on that effort.
Ripple also said that an early-2026 survey covered more than 1,000 financial leaders. According to the survey, 74% said stablecoins could improve cash-flow efficiency. They also said stablecoins could help unlock working capital. Together, these developments show Ripple is pushing stablecoins as a corporate payments tool, while debate over retail access continues.
