thecryptobasic.com
With the SEC dropping its lawsuit against Ripple, the company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, was featured in a Bloomberg interview, making bold predictions for XRP.
During the interview, he commented on why Ripple has not dropped its cross-appeal against the SEC and other XRP-related topics.
XRP to Feature in US Crypto Asset Stockpile
He was asked why the U.S. digital asset stockpile executive order did not specifically mention XRP as part of the stockpile. Responding, Garlinghouse expressed confidence about XRP’s potential inclusion in the reserve.
The Ripple CEO explained that President Trump had already mentioned XRP as part of the initiative in a Truth Social post prior to the executive order.
According to him, the U.S. plans to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) along with a digital asset stockpile featuring other crypto assets, with XRP being one of them.
When quizzed about how much XRP will be featured in the crypto stockpile, Garlinghouse did not provide a specific answer. However, he noted that the stockpile will comprise seized cryptos.
Notably, the blockchain wallet holding these seized cryptos currently boasts a holding of $17.45 billion worth of assets, including nearly 20,000 Bitcoin. XRP is not part of the crypto assets held in the wallet.
Recall that the executive order specified that it would not buy assets for the digital asset stockpile but only hold those obtained through forfeitures.
As a result, if the U.S. intends to hold XRP in its stockpile, it might have to convert one or more of the assets in its blockchain wallets into XRP. Whether the U.S. will adopt this approach remains to be seen.
XRP ETF to Launch in H2 2025
Meanwhile, Garlinghouse also expressed confidence that XRP will secure an ETF this year. Specifically, he mentioned that at least one XRP ETF will go live in the second half of 2025.
His confidence stems from the multiple filings from prospective issuers. The Crypto Basic previously reported that the number of XRP ETFs featured in the filings soared to 15 following Franklin Templeton’s involvement.
Notably, another factor that could bolster the chances of an XRP ETF going live this year is the SEC dropping its lawsuit against Ripple, a development that is already underway. This removes any regulatory uncertainty surrounding XRP.
Growing Demand for XRP
The Ripple CEO suggested that there is growing demand for XRP among institutional investors, as reflected in the surge in inflows into offshore-based XRP ETPs. According to him, while other crypto ETPs are seeing outflows, those tied to XRP have recorded strong inflows.
He attributed this positive development to easing negative pressure on XRP orchestrated by the previous SEC leadership.
In the meantime, the SEC has acknowledged most of the XRP ETF filings. The next date for the SEC’s approval decision is slated for May 2025. Market commentator Vincent Van Code projected that the SEC may approve several XRP ETFs by May 22, 2025.