Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse said he regards XRP as a hedge against currency devaluation rather than as digital gold, reserving that label for Bitcoin, according to Coinpedia. Speaking in remarks reported on September 28, 2026, he separated Ripple the company from XRP the token, a habit he said stuck after the US lawsuit.
Garlinghouse‘s reasoning rests on skepticism about government money management. Coinpedia reported that he said governments cannot be trusted to manage monetary supply in an expert way, and he pointed to the dollar losing about 30% of its value in five years and more than 90% over 30 to 40 years. On that basis he expects more capital to flow into non-inflationary assets, listing gold and crypto among them.
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Key facts
- Garlinghouse said he views XRP as a hedge, not as digital gold.
- He attributed the habit of separating Ripple from XRP to the US lawsuit.
- He said the dollar has lost roughly 30% of its value in five years.
- He put the dollar’s decline at more than 90% over 30 to 40 years.
- He expects capital to move toward non-inflationary assets, including gold and crypto.
A hedge framing, not a gold framing
Garlinghouse’s answer turns on a distinction between two claims that are often merged in crypto marketing. Digital gold implies an asset that holds value the way bullion does; a hedge implies a position taken specifically against the erosion of a currency. He kept XRP in the second category and said Bitcoin is the asset that carries the first.
His separation of company and token is the other half of the answer. Coinpedia reported that he described the split as a habit that persisted after the US lawsuit, when scrutiny of Ripple and of XRP were frequently treated as the same subject by observers and regulators. Reviving that distinction lets him address the token’s role in a portfolio without making a claim about Ripple the business.
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The case he offered is monetary rather than technical. He cited the dollar’s decline over two time horizons and argued that governments cannot be trusted to manage monetary supply in an expert way, then said he expects more capital to flow into non-inflationary assets including gold and crypto.
Why it matters
The comments shape how one of the most visible figures in the XRP community frames the asset. Supporters who have argued for a digital gold comparison get a hedge label instead, with Bitcoin keeping the gold title. That is a narrower pitch, and it points to inflation and currency debasement rather than to XRP taking on Bitcoin’s store-of-value role. For readers weighing where XRP sits in a portfolio, the practical difference is the benchmark: the dollar, not Bitcoin.
What to watch
Watch whether Garlinghouse repeats the hedge framing in later public appearances, and whether other Ripple executives adopt the same wording when describing XRP’s role. Coinpedia’s report itself does not set out a next scheduled appearance or a pending decision that would settle the question.
This article is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile and uncertain, and no outcome described here is guaranteed.
Source: Coinpedia
