Ripple CTO Explains Why Major Firms May Choose XRP Over Stablecoins

Ripple CTO David Schwartz has outlined why major firms may still choose XRP for some use cases even as stablecoins such as RLUSD, USDT, and USDC gain a larger role in digital payments. His comments came in response to a public debate about whether banks and companies would want to use XRP if Ripple itself holds a large amount of the token and if stablecoins now offer a lower-volatility alternative.

Schwartz addressed that concern directly on X after a post questioning why global banks would adopt XRP if doing so could also increase the value of Ripple’s holdings. He argued that a company would not usually reject a product that makes business sense simply because it may also benefit another firm. His response framed the issue as a commercial decision based on utility rather than a question of whether Ripple could also gain from broader usage.

The Ripple CTO also responded to another common question now facing the market: whether XRP remains relevant in a payments environment where stablecoins are growing quickly. He said there are cases in which volatility makes a stablecoin the better option and cases where a regulated asset backed by a trusted issuer is useful. That places XRP and stablecoins in different roles rather than in a simple one-or-the-other contest.

Schwartz Says Stablecoins and XRP Serve Different Needs

Schwartz identified three areas where he believes cryptocurrencies can still offer advantages over stablecoins. The first is that a stablecoin is only stable relative to one currency. In multi-jurisdiction payment flows, that may not solve every problem if the stablecoin needed for a specific fiat corridor either does not exist or does not have the right qualities.

His second point focused on issuer control. He said stablecoins can be frozen or clawed back by the issuer, while cryptocurrencies do not carry the same counterparty structure. In his explanation, that can matter in cases where users want to avoid dependence on a regulated issuer that may be subject to court orders or jurisdictional disputes.

The third argument was economic rather than operational. Schwartz said that if stability is not required, some users may prefer a cryptocurrency because it can offer upside that a stablecoin does not. He gave the example of money locked in escrow for a long period, in which a user might prefer XRP or BTC to dollars if preserving upside matters more than price stability.

Ripple Expands Corporate Infrastructure as RLUSD Grows

The debate over XRP versus stablecoins is ongoing as Ripple broadens its institutional product stack. Ripple recently launched Digital Asset Accounts and Unified Treasury within Ripple Treasury, allowing finance teams to manage fiat, XRP, RLUSD, and other digital balances on a single platform. Brad Garlinghouse said the company’s goal is to give corporates a trusted, regulated entry point into workflows they already use while removing friction between fiat and digital asset management. Moreover, Ripple Treasury processed $13 trillion in payments last year

Ripple has also expanded its prime brokerage profile. This week, Ripple said Kroll assigned Ripple Prime an investment-grade issuer rating of BBB. Garlinghouse described the rating as validation of Ripple Prime’s strength, reliability, and technology as the business continues to grow.

At the same time, RLUSD continues to expand, having reached a market capitalization of about $1.56 billion today. The Ripple stablecoin has also been linked to new payment and treasury use cases, including Convera’s B2B payments partnership and wider distribution through SBI in Japan.

XRP Price Action Stays Under Technical Pressure

While the debate around utility continues, the XRP price chart remains focused on the short-term structure driven by escalating US-Iran war tensions. The market recently confirmed a bearish intraday distribution pattern, with repeated failures below the $1.3670-$1.3680 resistance zone.

That rejection was followed by a breakdown into the $1.3030 target area before a modest bounce developed. The immediate technical question is whether XRP can hold that bounce or whether the market resumes lower. If price breaks back below the recent low, the case for a larger, higher-time-frame reversal would strengthen. 

If buyers reclaim the broken structure and move back above the $1.3350 area, the pressure from the latest breakdown would begin to ease.