Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has recently stressed that XRP remains the heartbeat of the company’s long-term vision.
Garlinghouse made this known while celebrating the completion of the Hidden Road deal. For context, Ripple announced last week that it has completed the acquisition of Hidden Road for around $1.25 billion. Accordingly, Hidden Road has now rebranded to Ripple Prime.
Celebrating the acquisition, Garlinghouse noted that Hidden Road represents part of Ripple’s five major acquisitions over the past two years. The company’s recent expansion streak includes the $1 billion purchase of treasury management firm GTreasury (October 2025) and the $200 million acquisition of stablecoin-focused payment provider Rail (August 2025).
In addition, the company completed the purchase of regulated custodian Standard Custody for an undisclosed amount (June 2024) and the $250 million acquisition of Swiss-based digital asset custody firm Metaco (May 2023).
XRP Is Ripple’s Heart
While most of these deals, particularly Hidden Road, fronted Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin as the token utility token, Garlinghouse reminded the crypto community that everything it does still revolves around XRP.
“XRP sits at the center of everything Ripple does,” he said, adding, “Lock in.”
His statement reaffirms the importance of XRP to Ripple’s broader goal of building an internet of value.
With today’s close of Hidden Road (now Ripple Prime), Ripple has announced 5 major acquisitions in ~2 years (GTreasury last week, Rail in August, Standard Custody in 2024, Metaco in 2023). As we continue to build solutions towards enabling an Internet of Value – I’m reminding you… https://t.co/O5Uub7ulw9
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 24, 2025
Ripple President Monica Long also reinforced XRP’s central role in the company’s expanding financial ecosystem. In a statement, Long confirmed that Ripple Prime is actively exploring ways to integrate XRP alongside RLUSD as a collateral asset within its prime brokerage offerings.
Amid this effort, she teased that the future is bright for XRP, especially as Ripple expands its footprint across value transfer, prime brokerage, and asset custody.
Ripple’s Use of XRP
Notably, XRP has long been a bridge asset in Ripple’s payment system. Institutional clients have leveraged the token in facilitating cross-border settlements.
However, Ripple has expanded its ecosystem with services such as real-world asset tokenization, asset custody, and prime brokerage. The launch of RLUSD in December led some to suggest XRP’s role is diminishing.
Meanwhile, Garlinghouse has made it clear that XRP remains central to the company’s operations, despite concerns that RLUSD might be prioritized over the token.
Critics had argued that XRP was being relegated to covering transaction fees on the XRPL. But Garlinghouse’s latest statement reaffirmed that XRP is the “heartbeat” of Ripple.
To reinforce this commitment, Ripple recently partnered with major players, including SBI and Kraken, to invest $1 billion in creating the world’s largest corporate XRP treasury, Evernorth.
The company has already sent over 200 million XRP to Evernorth’s corporate reserve. Ripple’s chairman, Chris Larsen, also invested 50 million XRP in the initiative.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
