Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse doubled down this week on XRP’s central role at the company as Ripple ramps up new initiatives — and as the long-awaited XRP Community Day kicks off. In an X post, Garlinghouse responded to community member “Mr. Man,” who had pushed back on claims that Ripple had shifted away from using XRP as a bridge asset. Garlinghouse wrote that the “XRP family” remains top of mind for Ripple and reiterated a message he gave earlier this year: XRP is — and will continue to be — the heartbeat of Ripple’s vision to enable the Internet of Value. He said he’s glad the company’s priorities are now clearer to the community. That clarification comes amid discussion around Ripple’s institutional DeFi roadmap on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Some speculators suggested the planned RLUSD stablecoin could supplant XRP as the network’s bridge asset. Ripple has countered that RLUSD is complementary, with XRP continuing to function as the bridge between the stablecoin and other tokens. Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz has previously argued the same point, noting XRP’s broader acceptance and “jurisdictionless” characteristics make it unsuitable to be replaced by RLUSD for bridging purposes. Ripple also emphasized XRP’s foundational role in XRPL mechanics — from reserve requirements and transaction fees to bridging across foreign-exchange and lending flows — reinforcing that the token’s utility runs deeper than one-off product usage. XRP Community Day — billed as a major moment for product and utility announcements — is happening today and tomorrow. Sessions for EMEA and the Americas run today, with APAC scheduled for tomorrow. Key speakers include Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple President Monica Long, Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, and David Schwartz. Agenda highlights promise a mix of regulated XRP products and innovation showcases: existing institutional offerings, wrapped XRP, an “XRP Innovation Spotlight,” and new features intended to expand the token’s utility. The Innovation Spotlight will feature Ripple-backed treasury firm Evernorth, exchange Gemini, and cross-chain bridge Wormhole, each demonstrating current XRP usage and roadmaps. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan will join a session on XRP products to discuss the growth of regulated XRP investment vehicles. At the time of writing, XRP is trading around $1.38, down roughly 4% over the past 24 hours, per CoinMarketCap. Expect Community Day to be closely watched for concrete product details that could affect XRP’s on-chain utility and market outlook. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news